Spring Open Days: The Ultimate Creative Checklist
Fifteen un-googleable questions to ask tutors at a creative open day, how to spot a sales-pitch tour, and what to check before you commit three years.
Open Days 8 min read
An open day is your only chance to look under the bonnet of a creative programme before committing three years of your life to it. You cannot judge a darkroom, a fashion studio or a film suite from a PDF prospectus.
Every sixth-form forum is full of complaints about sales-pitch tours that never show the actual first-year workspace. The fix is arriving with a plan. Here it is.
Fifteen questions tutors do not expect
Do not burn your one-to-one time asking about entry requirements; that is on UCAS. Ask these instead.
The studio and facilities
- The access rule. Are studios open around the clock during deadline season, or does the building lock at 5pm?
- The kit ratio. In a class of 30, how many students share one 3D printer, or one high-end cinema camera?
- Hidden costs. What do students actually spend on materials, printing and fabric per term?
- Technician support. Can technicians help with personal projects, or only timetabled sessions?
- Workspace ownership. A dedicated desk for the year, or hot-desking?
The teaching and industry
- Active practice. Which tutors on this programme still work in the industry today?
- Statement material. What from today’s visit could evidence the “preparation outside education” section of the new three-question UCAS personal statement?
- The drop-out question. What is the most common reason students leave this course in first year?
- Live briefs. Can you show me a project a student did for a real company last year?
- Critique style. Are crits big-group or private one-to-ones?
The future
- Alumni reality. Name three specific jobs held by last year’s graduates.
- Placement logistics. Does the university source internships, or do students cold-call?
- Degree show funding. Who pays for the final exhibition, the university or the students?
- Cross-course collaboration. Do photographers work with fashion students, or does everyone stay in silos?
- The TEF question. How does the university’s Teaching Excellence Framework rating change my actual weekly teaching?
Sales pitch vs reality: three tells
- The suspiciously clean studio. If a studio is spotless, it is not being used. Look for half-finished models, test prints on walls, students mid-project.
- The equipment store. Ask to see the rental list. If the industry-standard kit is permanently booked by third years, you will not touch it for two years.
- The café pulse. Sit in the student union café for fifteen minutes. Are people talking about their projects, or watching the clock?
Check the Discover Uni data for the specific course before you arrive. If student satisfaction is low, ask the tutor directly what they are doing about it. The reaction tells you more than the number.
Parents’ corner
Priorities differ: ask student ambassadors about the cost of a local bus pass, typical rent, and the university’s mental health drop-in hours. The parent guide covers the rest of the money questions.
After the visit
- Photograph the workshops, not the pretty buildings. You will need them to compare universities honestly later.
- Email the tutor one specific course question after you leave. It puts your name on their radar months before your application arrives.
- Log what you felt. Gut reactions fade fast, and by choice five, the visits blur together.
Next in the cycle: the creative admissions roadmap shows where open days sit in the full eighteen-month timeline.