3000x850 June Open Day 2023

What to expect at our Open Day

Join us at our South Kensington Campus on Saturday 16 September and experience what it is like to study at Imperial College London. 

At the Open Day, you'll get the chance to:

  • Explore our campus, facilities and accommodation
  • Attend departmental sessions for the subjects you're interested in studying
  • Meet staff and students, and ask them any questions you may have

Book your place

Please note there is a limited capacity for departmental sessions.

If the session you are interested in does not appear as an option in the booking form, it is fully booked.

To get an idea of what activities to expect, take a look at our programme from our June 2023 Open Day events or visit our Instagram page.

I went to the Open Day for my year of entry and spoke to chemical engineering students while I was there. I got such good impressions of everyone, they were all extremely friendly and welcoming, and answered all my questions about studying at Imperial. It really felt like a community where I could fit in. – Paulina, MEng Chemical Engineering

Make the most of your Open Day

Find answers to the most frequently asked questions around coming to an Open Day at Imperial below.

If you can't find an answer to your query here, please email us at opendays@imperial.ac.uk.

About the day

Our September Open Day is on Saturday 16 September.

Our September Open Day will take place on our South Kensington Campus.

There are planned line closures* on the Piccadilly and District lines between 15 and 17 September which may affect your journey to visit us, particularly if you are travelling from west London, or if the Piccadilly Line would normally be your best route. Please note that the Piccadilly Line will not be running to South Kensington or Gloucester Road on 16 September, to get to these stations you should take the Circle or District Line.

*District Line closed Earl's Court to Ealing Broadway and Richmond, Piccadilly Line closed Hyde Park Corner to Northfields and Uxbridge.

The nearest tube stations are South Kensington and Gloucester Road – both are approximately a 10-minute walk away from the campus.

We recommend using public transport when traveling to an Open Day.

We recommend arriving anytime between 09.00 and 14.00.

The Open Day activities officially start from 09.30, and the main welcome talk will be repeated in the afternoon.

When you arrive, we recommend visiting one of our Welcome Points where you can check in and collect a programme. If these are busy, you are welcome to attend other activities and come back at a quieter time.

Staff and students in yellow t-shirts will be around campus to help direct you to the activities you want to attend.

You can visit our Information Fairs throughout the day (between 09.00 and 16.30), where you can meet academic departments and support services and ask any questions you have.

Departmental sessions, which will give you an opportunity to find out more about the subjects you are interested in, also run throughout the day. You can register for these when you book your open day visit.

There are general information talks on topics ranging from student finance to the application process, starting at 09.30 and most are repeated during the day. You can also take a tour of our accommodation and attend drop-in sessions. No advance booking is required for these activities.

Students and staff in yellow t-shirts will be around to help you make the most of your day.

The full programme for the Open Days will be published on this page closer to the event.

The departmental sessions require pre-booking and last between 60 and 90 minutes, usually taking place within a lecture hall in the department’s building on campus. You will hear presentations from academic staff, and get detailed information on the courses at Imperial, as well as application guidance. These sessions will repeat three times during the day with time slots of 10.00, 12.30 or 15.00 available to book.

For your safety, and due to the high number of visitors at our open days and limited capacities, it isn’t always possible to take a tour of specific department facilities during the session.

If you haven’t been able to book a session, or you find you still have questions later, you can speak to the department directly at the subject information fair throughout the day.

 

Yes, student-led accommodation tours of the halls of residence next to our South Kensington campus run throughout the day.

There is no need to book for these tours in advance – simply pop along to the tour tent at a time that's convenient for you and join the next available tour.

All tours are led by a current Imperial student, who will be pleased to answer any questions that you might have about life at the College.

Yes, you are welcome to bring visitors, but you may only bring one guest to each department session due to limits on capacities in lecture theatres.

Please remember that all department sessions must be booked in advance and you must reserve a place for your guest at the same time.

For any questions you have, you can contact our Open Days team using the contact details below.

E: opendays@imperial.ac.uk
T: +44 (0)20 7584 7202 (09.00–17.00 UK time)

You can view or download our accessible route map of our South Kensington Campus below or visit AccessAble for more information.

Accessible Route Map

 

Yes, some of the on-campus cafes will be open on the day, and there will also be food tents serving lunch. We have a wide range of catering outlets on campus, but during the summer term only a limited selection of them are open.

We also have free tea, coffee and water for guests available throughout the event.

The 12.30 subject session for Medicine takes place in the Great Hall, and seats are available on a first come first served basis. You can select this session while booking if you intend to attend the 12.30 session. The Great Hall is the largest lecture hall on campus with over 700 seats, allowing larger capacity for this very popular subject talk, but selecting on the booking form does not guarantee a seat.

For the 10.00 and 15.00 time slots for Medicine in the Sir Alexander Fleming Building a booking is required.

Travelling to and from campus

There are planned line closures* on the Piccadilly and District lines between 15 and 17 September which may affect your journey to visit us, particularly if you are travelling from west London, or if the Piccadilly Line would normally be your best route. Please note that the Piccadilly Line will not be running to South Kensington or Gloucester Road on 16 September, to get to these stations you should take the Circle or District Line.

*District Line closed Earl's Court to Ealing Broadway and Richmond, Piccadilly Line closed Hyde Park Corner to Northfields and Uxbridge.
 

Our nearest Tube station is South Kensington which is on the Piccadilly, District and Circle lines.

Our campus is a 10-minute walk from the Tube station up Exhibition Road, next to the Science Museum, and is clearly signposted from the station.

We strongly recommend using public transport to travel to the Open Day. Parking in the area is extremely limited and expensive, and we can only arrange guest parking on campus if you are a blue badge holder.

For a Tube map and general information for travel in London, visit the Transport for London website.

We know that not all our visitors will be familiar with public transport in London, so please do get in touch if you need support planning your journey.

We have a limited number of travel bursaries available for Year 12 students at a state school or college in the UK. The bursaries will provide return rail or public transport to the September Open Day 2023. The application deadline for the bursary is 12.00 on Friday 18 August 2023.

Apply for the travel bursary.

During the summer term we open up our student halls of residence to provide bookable accommodation in London, with prices in South Kensington from £90 per night. If you are looking for somewhere to stay the night before the event, there are rooms available right next to campus at Prince's Gardens and Beit Hall.

Yes, if you have a disability and blue badge we can arrange parking on campus – please email opendays@imperial.ac.uk to arrange this.

Most buildings on campus have disabled access, but please email us in advance to advise us of any mobility issues so that we can check the accessibility of departmental sessions that you intend to attend.

Booking and booking changes

You must book departmental sessions in advance – you can book a place at up to three of these sessions.

You can also book a place for one guest to bring with you to departmental sessions (subject to availability) though you must indicate this at the time of booking due to limits on numbers.

Book your place

Yes, when you make your booking you will see your booking barcode and a list of the sessions you have booked on your screen. You will also receive an email containing your booking reference number and barcode.

The day before the event we will email you your booking barcode. Please bring your booking barcode with you on the day, as it is your proof of booking and you will need it to register at one of our Welcome Points. You can either display the email on your phone or bring a printed copy.

If you haven't received a confirmation email it is often because the email address was not entered in correctly when booking, please contact us if you think you may have entered your email address in wrong so we can amend this to ensure you receive all future communications.

Yes. If you need to make changes to your booking, simply log back into our online booking system. To log back in you need to use the email address you used when you made the original booking and your booking reference number – you can find this on the email confirmation you received.

Take care not to accidently delete your booking - if you want to change your department sessions please check there are spaces on the new session you want, otherwise you may lose your original booking.

If you have any problems or require help with editing your booking, please email: opendays@imperial.ac.uk

We recommend you still book a place and attend our Open Day.

The booking system does not have a waiting list for departmental sessions, so please check back later to see if spaces have become available for the session(s) you are interested in.

You will still be able to explore the campus, attend an accommodation tour and have the opportunity to speak to our academic departments at our Information Fair.

You'll also be able to ask our staff and students any questions you have.

In addition, you may be able to attend a drop-in session about the subject you're interested in.

If your plans change and you are unable to make the open day please do log back into our online booking system to cancel your booking and free up the place for another visitor.

If you have any problems cancelling your booking please email: opendays@imperial.ac.uk.

Only available sessions will appear on the booking form. If your departmental session does not appear, it is most likely fully booked.

You can still attend the Open Day and visit our Information Fair and drop-in sessions.

Unfortunately, only one parent, carer or guest will be able to attend a booked department session with you. We have strict capacity limits for booked talks in lecture theatres for health and safety reasons, which is why we must keep the maximum booking number to two people.

Guests are welcome to attend the elements of the Open Day which do not require advance booking, for example our accommodation and general information talks.

Guests will also be able to visit the department and support services exhibition stands at the Information Fairs to speak with staff and current students from the department(s) of your choice.

No, unfortunately limits on numbers at our departmental sessions means we are unable to accommodate school bookings.

However, if you are a teacher, please do encourage your students to book individually using our online booking system.

Teachers are also welcome to attend the event and there are a range of activities that do not require advance booking.