My son has had an offer at Warwick to study Maths but he hasn't seen the University. If we go there at Xmas will we be able to look around the campus?

[wellAverage]

Just that really, is it an open campus so we can have a wander around, maybe check out the cafeteria, local towns etc?
Will it be totally deserted over Xmas?

@wellAverage Yes you can, just ring them and they will advise you where to park etc. We did this with several universities not on open days, porters were really helpful. Had a walk round, had lunch on campuses. It is better to see campuses when students are there otherwise it can feel a bit dead. That would mean a weekend before year 13's break up. But here is Warwick's own page on their guided tours if you fancy being walked round.

https://warwick.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/visits/campustours/

Warwick uni campus has a public road running through the middle and a theatre that has events open to anyone. So you can get onto campus anytime you like. Getting into buildings will need permission I imagine, but you can go and get the feel of the campus whenever

Thank you both. That's really useful to know.

You can also have a look on the website and work out which building he would be in so you can see that side of things. As others have said, just be prepared for it to be a bit of a ghost town out of term.

You can and should visit any time, but it will be deserted over Christmas.

Congratulations to your DS! Warwick is an incredible place to do Maths.

It depends what you mean by 'over Xmas'. Basically everything on the campus will be closed between 23rd December and 3rd January. You can still walk around campus but most of the places to eat will be closed (except possibly those attached to the Arts Centre and maybe Costa) and there will be no staff or students around.

If you visit outside that official Christmas closure period you will be able to walk around campus and enter public buildings but you will not be able to enter the Maths department without someone to escort you. The campus will still be pretty deserted if you visit outside term time though.

I would warn you that Warwick is not at its best in gloomy weather with no people around.

There are offer holders days in spring so may be better to save your visit until then. Your DS should get an invite, dates are on the website.

Don’t all universities have offer holder days?

You can go on Google street view and have a virtual walk around.

Park near the sports hub and you can take a look around there too. It’s opposite accommodation etc. but open to the community. And as PP said above the arts centre and gallery also open.
if you do go to an official event in January would advise early arrival as parking seems to become crazy crowded.

It will be quiet. Some students may stay onsite but no academics or facilities like libraries stay open between Christmas and NY. However we visited one half term and the department(not maths though) arranged a tour for us . So it might be worth trying contacting them to see if similar is available. Do they not run offer holder days?

Congratulations! DS also has an offer... he really liked the campus.
Good luck with the visit.

My eldest did maths at Warwick. The campus will be dead quiet at Christmas so you won't get a feel for how it is normally. However you can wander round. Most students live on campus in year 1 and then in Leamington Spa from year2. It's actually on the outskirts of Coventry but DS didn't know anyone who moved there. Leamington is quite a nice town and obviously very studenty.

I visited with my son last year, he was also considering it for Maths. Whilst the Maths dept is good, he didn't like the whole campus style set up. It is a bit cut off from the world, even though the facilities are nice. He opted for a city uni in the end, I don't think he would have enjoyed the social life in either Coventry or Warwick.

What exactly is a 'holder day '?
Is it like an Open day?
Are they held mid week or Saturday?

Offer holder days can be either midweek or weekends. Usually include general tours and talks and specific departmental activities like sample lectures and workshops. Check the website for upcoming dates or they will probably email invitations as offers are made.

Most students at Warwick end up living in Leamington Spa, so have a look there too.

My DS had also put Warwick down without visiting but the offer day for maths students was great. Was held in the dept - the students went off to do some mathsy stuff and we had a lecture for parents. There were other subject offer days on campus too so it had a buzz and there were also tours of accommodation offered etc and the food market was on in the piazza. Suggest you wait and go to one of those rather than visit what will be a depressing empty campus at Christmas!

Yes, you'd be able to walk around, Cafes might not be open, depending on when your visit is - but there are always people on a university campus, even on Christmas Day! International students, for example, and grounds staff.

For Warwick, I'd advise you have a look to see what's on at the Warwick Arts Centre, as there will be cafes & their shop open around the performance times at the theatre:

https://www.warwickartscentre.co.uk/

As already said, very easy to get onto campus, look around outside of accommodation (there's quite a choice spread out), enter grocery shop and bar area. If I were going, I'd suggest he get in touch beforehand and ask if there's a member of staff or someone from the department who would be free to spend a few minutes with him, just in case anyone is onsite. Some students will stay there over xmas so above should be open. Many students end up renting in Leamington Spa second year onwards, rather than Coventry, so worth a drive around there.

If he thinks the course is for him and he gets an offer, there should be an offer holders day which he may be able to attend. My DD was in the situation where she had three unis she was interested in, was unable to visit so phoned them all. Two of them were very helpful and she had a brief chat with someone in the department, the other she was passed from pillar to post, no one seemed to even be aware of the course - that helped her rule out the latter.

My ds studied at Warwick and lived in Coventry in years 2 and 3 within walking distance of campus. Leamington is a great place to live but it can be a pain going in and out on the bus especially if you have lectures/seminars which are at the beginning and then end of the day.
Sports facilities are excellent.
my ds was in lakeside if you want any info on accommodation.

Campus will be quiet but mostly easy to access. I second visiting Leamington though. DH and I met while studying at Warwick 10 years ago, then we lived in around Leamington for years. It's a great town, buses are very frequent to campus, and almost everyone I knew at uni lived there (not Coventry which seemed to be mostly international students - I'd say 90% of people we knew were in Leam).

As for campus, it would be worth seeing if there's anything on at Warwick Arts Centre that you might enjoy, you'll be able to have a nice meal there too before or after.

It's very open and there's a lot of research students and staff working, so it will be quieter but not completely dead, except on the public holidays.

Maths is very good there, you must be very proud!

Definitely have a look. DS hated the campus and it didn't make his final 2 but I know others who liked it.

Ds has applied to Warwick for history. He loved the open and day. Fingers crossed he gets an offer.

you must go see it. Well done.