Parents and Carers

Visiting a university with your child can be a real eye-opener. It is often the first time you see where they might spend the next three or four years of their life. This can feel both inspiring and a little intimidating, especially if you didn’t attend university yourself, or if your child’s interests differ from your own. At Oxford, we warmly welcome the whole family on our Open Days. We understand that these visits are often filled with a mix of excitement and nerves, alongside the pressure to gather as much information as possible in a single day. 

Although Oxford is not a campus university, the city itself is compact, and most locations can be reached on foot in under 30 minutes. We recommend spending a full day in Oxford to make the most of your visit. This should allow enough time to explore at least three colleges as well as a couple of departments or faculties. Typically, departments host sessions in the morning, while colleges take over in the afternoon. The Law Faculty is fortunate to extend its programme into the afternoon as well, due to the high level of interest. Each year, we receive around 2,200 applications for Law, meaning our open days tend to attract larger numbers than most other departments. 

A typical Law open day includes an admissions talk followed by a taster lecture, with sessions repeated in the afternoon, often covering different topics. Throughout the day, student ambassadors are available around the building to answer questions about studying Law at Oxford, including workload and student life. In addition, several staff members are on hand to provide further guidance and support.

Encourage your child to look beyond Oxford’s historic buildings (although they are undeniably impressive) and reflect on deeper questions such as: 

• What are the advantages of studying here? 
• Does this university offer the support I need? 
• Will I be able to study the subjects I am most interested in? 
• Who can I ask about any concerns I might have or additional information I might need? 

It is also important to understand what your child is hoping to study. Are they committed to a single subject at Oxford, or still deciding between two? At Oxford, students can only apply for one course, and they may apply to either Oxford or Cambridge, but not both. For many prospective students, this is one of the most significant decisions they will make. 

Open Days are also an opportunity to encourage independence. This is often the first real step students take in making decisions that will shape their future. While parents and carers can offer support, these events are primarily for students to explore independently and ask the questions that matter most to them. Encourage them to speak directly with ambassadors and give them space to lead conversations without hovering or taking over. Open Days are designed for students to learn about the university in their own way. 

University life is about far more than academic study and future careers. It is a place where students develop essential life skills and independence: learning how to manage their time and finances, and gradually adapting to living independently, supported by college staff. It is also where many form lasting friendships that continue beyond their time in education. Alongside this, the university provides opportunities for networking and career development, as well as pastoral support within colleges to ensure students are well looked after throughout their studies.

Exploring colleges during an Open Day is often one of the most enjoyable parts of visiting Oxford, and there is a wide variety to see. There are 32 colleges and Permanent Private Halls that admit undergraduate students, and 31 of these offer places to Law students. 

In recent years, the Law admissions process has been restructured to promote fairness and equity. One key change is that we now shortlist applications “college blind.” This means that when a student applies to Oxford, they may either indicate a preferred college (with the understanding that they could be reassigned at any stage of the process), or submit an open application, in which case a college is allocated at random. Around one in five applicants choose the open application route. 

For Law specifically, college information is temporarily removed during the shortlisting stage. This ensures that applications are assessed purely on their academic merit and supporting evidence, without any influence from college preference. In practical terms, this means that whether a student selects a college or submits an open application has very little impact on the initial stages of the process. It also means that even if a student really likes a particular college and wants to apply there, it is entirely possible that they will end up receiving an offer from a different college. It is important to bear this in mind and not to get too attached to any particular college in case this happens. In our experience of many years, whatever college a student ends up attending rapidly becomes, in their view, the best possible college and one to which they very much feel they belong. 

Hopefully, this helps to ease some of the pressure around choosing a college and reassures applicants that there is no “wrong” choice when it comes to the application itself.