Make the most of your day
Open Days are busy and there’s lots to see and do. It’s best to come with a plan of action, so on this page, you can find out more about how to make the most of your day – from planning your journey, what bring and how you can catch up with talks you might have missed.
What to expect at our Open Days
Open Day starts at 9.00 and ends at 16.30. As a rough guide, we recommend arriving at least 10 minutes before your first scheduled talk begins.
We’ll publish the full schedule for our Open Days closer to the date, but some activities you can look forward to include:
Information fairs
This is where you can ask questions and find out more about your chosen department. You can also meet staff from our student services including:
- accommodation
- admissions
- careers
- the Centre for Languages, Culture and Communication
- the Disability Advisory Service and Mental Health and Counselling Advice Service
- finance
- the students' union
Department drop-in sessions
Some departments offer informal drop-in sessions, where you can talk to staff and students about our courses.
Pre-booked departmental sessions
Departmental sessions last between 60 and 90 minutes, usually taking place within a lecture hall or facilities in the department’s building on campus. You will hear presentations from academic staff, get detailed information on the courses and selection process at Imperial, and may include a tour.
These sessions will repeat three times during the day with time slots of 10.00, 12.30 or 15.00 available when you book for an Open Day.
Parents' and supporters' talk
Join our team for a dedicated talk for parents and supporters to learn more about Imperial and the application process. No booking needed.
General talks
Hear from our students and staff about student life, support, careers and admissions our general talks. No booking needed and talks are repeated throughout the day.
Accommodation and Ethos tours
Join a student-led tour of some of the halls of residence on our South Kensington Campus or visit our on-campus sports centre, Ethos.
Abdus Salam Library drop-in
Visit our main library to meet staff and see our facilities for group, quiet and silent study.
Planning your Open Days
There’s lots going on at our Open Days, so it’s a good idea to make a plan for:
- how you'll travel to campus
- what you need to bring
- what you want to ask us
Here, we’ve put together information and advice to help you plan what you can do before Open Day, on the day itself and after Open Day.
Before Open Day
Think about what you want to see and do
Use our course list to find subjects you’re interested in and think about the questions you’d like to ask our staff and students. If it’s helpful, write them down.
A full schedule of talks, fairs and department drop-ins will be released very soon. Decide what you want to see and do – there's lots going on and you might not have time for everything.
Plan your journey
The easiest way to get to our South Kensington Campus is by public transport.
The nearest Underground stations are South Kensington and Gloucester Road, on the District, Circle and Piccadilly lines. You can plan your route with the Transport for London journey planner.
On-site parking is only available for Blue Badge holders. If you need to request a car parking space, email us at opendays@imperial.ac.uk with your vehicle registration and driver’s name at least one week before Open Day.
You can also find more information about how to find us – including directions on Google Maps – on our South Kensington Campus page.
Travel Bursary
We offer a limited number of travel bursaries for prospective Year 12 students to attend our in-person Open Days. The bursaries cover return travel on rail or public transport.
You can find eligibility criteria and details of how to apply on our travel bursary page.
Accommodation
We don’t offer accommodation for our Open Days, but there are plenty of hotels, hostels and homestays in the surrounding areas.
Accessibility
You can find access guides to our buildings at the South Kensington Campus on the AccessAble website.
Accessible information at Imperial can be found on our Accessibility page and an accessibility form is available should you have certain requirements that we can make so you can enjoy and make the most of your Open Day.
Check the weather
It's a good idea to check the weather to make sure you can stay comfortable during Open Day.
On Open Day
What to bring
- Your QR code. You’ll need this to check-in. You can find your code in your booking confirmation email.
- Your schedule. It’s really useful to make a note of talks and events you want to join during the day to make sure you don’t miss anything.
- A water bottle and reusable coffee cup. We have water fountains across campus and you can avoid a 30p levy charged on disposable coffee cups at our cafes if you bring a reusable cup.
- An umbrella and sun cream. The weather can be unpredictable, so check the weather in advance and bring layers.
- Comfortable shoes. You’ll be doing a lot of walking, so make sure you stay comfy!
- Notebook and pen. There’s a lot to take in on Open Day, so it’s a great idea to take notes – especially if you think of questions that you’d like to ask us.
Arrival
When you arrive on campus, we recommend heading to one of our Welcome Points to check-in. You’ll get a printed programme, study guide and tote bag, and it is great place to ask questions if you’re not sure where to start.
We have two Welcome Points where you can 'check in' and collect an event programme:
- Imperial College road located outside of our Chemistry Building
- College Main entrance
Check in by showing your barcode (on your confirmation email) to staff who will scan it. You can do this at any time during the day.
If you arrive close to the start time of a talk or activity you want to attend, then please head straight to that, and you can come and visit a Welcome Point later. There’ll be students and staff in bright t-shirts to help guide you around the campus throughout the day.
Food and drink
We have lots of catering outlets on campus that offer hot and cold food throughout the day. There’ll also be a pop-up tent serving hot food.
You can find water fountains across campus and free tea and coffee is available all day in the Senior Common Room.
After Open Day
Explore London
Our Open Days are a great excuse to visit the London and see the sights. Our students, Lorraine, Tee and Aim about their favourite spots around South Kensington and beyond!
Catch up with our talks
If you don’t manage to make it to everything you want to do on Open Day, you can catch up with our talks and tasters online.
View our on-demand talks and tasters.
Explore more on a virtual tour
See more of our labs, workshops, teaching spaces and accommodation with our 360° virtual tour of our campuses and halls.
Take a virtual tour.
Chat with our students
You can ask questions and chat to our student ambassadors online anytime through UniBuddy.
Meet our student ambassadors.
Want to learn more about what to expect?
Join our student ambassadors Chan and Michael for an introduction to the Imperial Open Day – from checking-in and visiting our subject information fairs, to department drop-in sessions and campus tours.