All you need to know about Oxbridge Open Days

Our 2022 Guide to Oxford and Cambridge Open Days

After two years of cancelled events, awkward zoom calls, and attending meetings in our pyjamas, Oxford and Cambridge have scheduled their 2022 University-wide open days to be in-person and bigger and better than ever! Whilst some department open days are still taking place online to ensure that all aspiring scholars can attend in a safe and convenient way, attending an in-person, Uni-wide event is the perfect opportunity to discover more about not just the subject(s) you’re interested in, but also about the different colleges and the cities of Oxford and Cambridge themselves. For many current students, a university open day was the first real chance they got to bring their Oxbridge dream to life!

In this article, we’ll take you through the key dates you need to get in your diary for 2022, when and where you might need to register ahead for certain events, and top tips for planning so that you get the most out of your day.

Key dates for 2022

Don’t be put off if you don’t see your chosen subject(s) on the list of open days – not all subjects do separate events, and all departments will be participating as part of the university-wide days, so there’s plenty of opportunity to go and see them outside of their specific department days!

Oxford

Cambridge

How to make the most of an open day

Be Punctual
As I’m sure you can imagine, thousands of applicants from around the country and beyond will be flooding into the (relatively small) cities of Oxford and Cambridge on Open Days. For this reason it’s important to try and get there as early as you can, and ideally to find alternatives to driving such as taking the bus or train to avoid driving around for hours in search of an elusive parking space!

Prepare a hit-list of colleges
Aside from thinking about the subject your interested in, an open day is also a great time to check out your potential future home for three or four years. Colleges provide students with a place to live for most of their degree, as well as a thriving community of students from which many end up making friends for life! If you’re set on a subject, plan a visit to colleges both near and far from the department, envisaging your daily commute as a student.

Leave the beaten track
Make sure that you’re not just hitting up every college within touching distance of the high street or with the largest clock towers. Although the big hitters, such as St Johns, Trinity, and Queens, are absolutely worth taking the time to look around, you might just find a gem in some of the less obvious choices. Why not get a map of the city and have a proper look at all your options before plotting a route through some bigger and smaller colleges before you go!

Ask the important questions
It can be very useful to think before-hand about all the things to do with both your subject and your college which might end up being important to you from a practical perspective in addition to academic matters. Do you prefer coursework to exams? Are you desperate to have a kitchen in your accommodation? Do you want to be in a college with 100 or 500 people in your year? Whist it’s tempting to get carried away by the beautiful vistas and impressive stature of the colleges and departments of Oxbridge unis, make sure you remain analytical and think about what YOU are going to need as a student.

Most importantly: have fun!
Ultimately, an open day is a chance for you to get a feel for the city in which you might spend the next three to four years living, so it’s important that you let yourself be immersed in the feel, the culture, and the atmosphere of the place. There’s no need to pretend or impress anyone whilst visiting, so let it be a pressure-free enjoyable event for you to get your teeth into.