Open Days
Saturday 16 November 2024
Everything you need to know about visiting us for our Open Day, taking place on Saturday 16 November 2024.
Jump to a section of our Open Day event guide:
Campus map
Signing in and welcome talks
Subject talks and drop-ins
Student support talks and drop-ins
Tours
Visitor information and safety
Campus map
When you arrive at the Open Day, you will receive a map of the event in your welcome pack. A general map of our campus is also available online:
If you prefer, you can also download and print out a PDF version of our campus map: Open Days 2024 Campus Map (PDF, 1MB)
Find out how to read our building codes and room numbers here:
If you are looking for a specific room on campus, our room codes will tell you where to go.
The first two letters of your room code refer to a campus building:
- C.C. - Creative Centre
- C.D. - Cordukes
- D.G. - De Grey
- D.T. - Design Centre
- F.S. - Foss
- F.T. - Fountains Learning Centre
- H.G. - Holgate
- M.C. - McGregor
- P.H. - Phoenix
- Q.N. - Quad North
- Q.S. - Quad South
- Q.W. - Quad West
- S.K. - Skell
- W.T. - Wilmott
The 3 digit number refers to where the room is within the building:
- 000 - Ground floor
- 100 - First floor
- 200 - Second floor
There are signs in each building to guide you to the correct room.
Signing in and welcome talks
We are excited to welcome you to our campus for our Open Day.
You are welcome to arrive on campus to sign in from 8.45am. Please do not arrive earlier than 8.30am.
Campus tours will begin at 9.00am and our first Welcome talk will begin at 9.15am.
The signing in station at our Open Day is located in our Arts Foyer. To enter the Open Day, come to our Lord Mayor's Walk entrance:
- Entrance: Lord Mayor's Walk (see pin on Google Maps)
Please only enter our campus at the designated entrance, and not at our main University reception. We need to keep track of visitors for safety and security and we appreciate your help with this.
Sign in at a podium with a member of our Open Day team. You will be welcomed by our staff, receive your welcome pack, and can ask any questions you might have about talks, tours, or directions around campus.
When you sign in, you will need to show the QR code you received in your email to the staff member, who will scan the code and sign you in. If you can't find your QR code, we can still find your booking using your full name. Please have your booking information ready when you arrive at the signing in station.
If you attend without booking a place, we will ask you to register when you arrive.
Visitors who use a wheelchair can sign in at our main Open Day entrance, but may need to take an alternative route to progress into the centre of our campus. There will be signs on campus to provide directions of accessible routes.
Guests: We do not limit how many guests you can bring with you to the Open Day, but we give priority in talks and tours to the prospective students. We kindly request that large accompanying groups leave 1 guest with the student in busy tours and talks.
Our Open Day will include welcome talks to introduce you to York St John University.
9.15am - multiple locations
10.00am - multiple locations
11.20am - Fountains Lecture Theatre
12.40pm - Fountains Lecture Theatre
To make sure that as many visitors as possible can attend these popular talks, we stream the sessions across multiple venues on campus. The speakers will be based in Fountains Lecture Theatre, and if you have a hearing loop or other needs that require to be in the room with our live speakers, you can access reserved seating in this location.
Tickets are required for our morning welcome talks and livestreams, and these tickets will be issued from our main sign-in station when you arrive. For our morning welcome talks, your ticket will tell you which location you can watch from.
Tickets are not required for our afternoon welcome talk.
Welcome talks will last around 30 minutes.
All of our talks are optional, and we advise planning your day in advance so that you know which talks you want to attend. Check talk times in advance to make the most of your day.
Subject talks and drop-ins
Get to know the course you could be studying next year.
Find your subject
Live Open Day subject talks and drop-ins will take place across campus.
Subject talks are structured information sessions where our academic staff will give you an overview of their subject area, including course structure and how you'll study, entry requirements, field trips and placements, and assessment. If there is time at the end of the session, you will be able to ask questions to staff.
Drop-in sessions are interactive, free-form sessions you can visit at any point during the opening times. Staff will be available to chat to at your own pace, and can answer questions about your course and talk more in depth about studying with us. You may also be able to take part in interactive demonstrations and facility tours, and see student work.
To find out the time and location for the talks and drop-in sessions you would like to attend, select your subject below. If you are interested in a Joint Honours course, you will need to attend the talk and drop in for each individual subject. There are not specific Joint Honours talks.
Remember that all of our welcome and subject talks are optional, and we advise planning your day in advance so that you know which talks you want to attend.
Student support talks and drop-ins
Some of our support teams will be hosting talks during the Open Day so that you can learn more about important parts of university life like accommodation and funding.
Teams will also be available at drop-in sessions around campus so that you can chat to staff and ask any questions you have.
Talks
Accommodation talks will be taking place at the following times and locations:
10.40am - Fountains Lecture Theatre
12.40pm - Temple Hall
Talks will last approximately 30 minutes.
Please note that these talks fill up quickly and will not be live streamed to secondary locations.
Drop-in
The Accommodation team are available to speak to from 9.30am to 3.15pm in the Holgate building dining hall.
You can collect walking tour maps to visit our accommodation sites from the team drop-in. You don't need to ask staff for maps if you don't have other questions about our sites - simply grab them and go!
Please note that accommodation tours do not depart from the drop-in. Meet at the Temple building foyer to join a walking accommodation tour, or St Anthony's House to join a bus tour.
Talks
Student Finance talks will be taking place at the following times and locations:
12.00pm - De Grey 017
2.00pm - Fountains Lecture Theatre
Talks will last approximately 30 minutes.
Please note that these talks fill up quickly and will not be live streamed to secondary locations.
Drop-in
The Student Funding Advice team are also available to speak to from 10.00am to 3.15pm in the ground floor Creative Centre atrium.
Talk
Discover more about life at York St John. This talk will take place at:
1.20pm - Creative Centre auditorium
This talk will last approximately 30 minutes.
Drop-in
The Students' Union team will be available to speak to from 10.00am to 3.15pm in the Students' Union building.
Talks
Hear from our Admissions team about how to write an effective personal statement for your UCAS application. These talks will take place at:
12.00pm - Foss 036
2.40pm - Foss 036
These talks will last approximately 30 minutes.
We expect these talks to fill up quickly and they will not be livestreamed to other locations. Please plan to arrive in plenty of time for the talk if you are keen to attend.
Drop-in
The Admissions team will be available to speak to from 10.00am to 3.15pm in the ground floor Creative Centre atrium.
Talks
Hear from our friendly staff about the range of support we provide for our students.
12.00pm - Trans and gender-diverse support - Quad West 003. This talk will provide information about practical support available for students identifying as trans, questioning, or allies.
1.20pm - Neurodiversity support - Quad West 003. This talk will provide information about practical support available for neurodivergent students and those supporting their transition to university.
These talks will last approximately 30 minutes.
Drop-in
The Student Support team will be available to speak to from 10.00am to 3.15pm in the ground floor Creative Centre atrium.
Drop-in
Talk to our Careers, Placements and Student Opportunities team in our modern careers centre about the services they offer, from work placements to study abroad trips.
The team will be available to speak to from 10.00am to 3.15pm in the LaunchPad careers centre.
Talk
Hear from our Foundation Years team about the foundation courses we offer, and how you can apply and study. These talks will take place at:
12.40pm - Quad West 003
These talks will last approximately 30 minutes.
Tours
Join our student ambassadors and staff to tour our campus, accommodation and facilities.
Guided tours will be running throughout the Open Day so that you can explore our beautiful, historic campus, including our new Creative Centre.
Tours are led by current York St John students and last approximately 45 minutes. Your campus tour group will be up to 30 people. On these tours you will see general study facilities including our library, but you will not enter specialist subject facilities. For more information about these specialist facilities, you can speak to staff at our drop-in sessions.
Campus tours will begin at 8.45am, departing approximately every 10 minutes until last departure at 3.00pm
Please meet at the Temple building to join a campus tour group. For directions, see our pin on Google Maps.
No tickets are required for campus tours.
Rooms will be open to view at several of our accommodation sites as part of Open Day.
Information about how to view accommodation will be confirmed closer to the event.
Expectations for accommodation tours
If you plan to view student accommodation as part of your Open Day, please familiarise yourself with the following information.
The rooms you have been invited to view are students' homes. To make sure both our guests and our students have a positive experience, we ask that you:
- Please listen carefully to any instructions from our Student Ambassadors.
- Please wait patiently to access the rooms - only a small number of guests will be able to enter the room at a time.
- Please do not try to access rooms which are not open to view.
- Please treat the students who live here with dignity and respect.
- Give feedback about the accommodation open to view to the relevant team back on campus and not to the students showing their rooms.
For the safety and comfort of everyone at our accommodation sites, security teams will be present during the day. Failure to comply with these requests may result in you being asked to leave the accommodation.
We hope that your visits to the accommodation sites are positive and that the halls of residence shown are presentable and easy to access. If you have any feedback that specifically relates to this aspect of the Open Day, please speak to the Accommodation on the day (drop in located in Temple Foyer) or contact accommodation@yorksj.ac.uk.
Transport is available to and from the York St John University Sports Park site during the Open Day.
No tickets are required for Sports Park tours.
Pick up
For all Sports Park tours, your coach or shuttle taking you from our main campus will meet you next to our St Anthony's House building. Please be at the pick up point at least 5 minutes before the departure time. Priority for places on the shuttle buses will be given to applicants.
To attend a Sport subject talk
Our Sport subject sessions will cover Sport and Exercise Science, Sport and Exercise Therapy, and Physical Education and Sports Coaching. Sessions will take place at at the York St John University Sports Park on Haxby Road, and will include a tour of the facilities. A free shuttle bus will run from campus to the sports park in time for subject talks.
Timings for the sessions are:
11.30am to 12.30pm (bus will leave main campus at 11.15am)
1.45pm to 2.45pm (bus will leave main campus at 1.30pm)
The bus shuttle departure point will be between Skell and St Anthony's House on our main campus.
Talks (including tour) will last around 60 minutes. You will arrive back on campus around 90 minutes after your bus pick-up time.
Not attending a Sport subject talk
If you are not attending the Sport subject talk but you would like to look around our Sports Park facilities, a shuttle bus will be available to transport you to the Sports Park.
Timings for the tours are:
10.30am
1.00pm
The bus shuttle departure point will be St Anthony's House on our main campus.
These tours will last around 30 to 40 minutes and will show the Sports Park facilities. These tours are intended for students not interested in studying a Sport course, but who would like to play sport competitively or recreationally alongside their studies.
Visitor information and safety
We want to make sure that all of our Open Day visitors enjoy their day on campus and feel safe and secure in their plans. Find out more about travelling to campus, how to get around, and our safety arrangements.
Our Helpdesk team will be available on campus all day to help with your questions. If you need directions, lost property information, or if you just have some general questions, you can speak to the team at our information desk in the Holgate building.
The Information Helpdesk will be staffed from 8.45am to 3.30pm.
For directions and travel information on how to find our campus, visit our dedicated page:
Because our campus is located in the city centre, we will not be running shuttle buses from York railway station. We are around a 10 to 15 minute walk from the station, or a short taxi ride. Taxis will cost around £5 (York Cars), £6 (Fleetways), or £10 (Uber).
Please note that this Open Day is taking place on the first weekend of York's Christmas markets. We expect the city centre and transport links to be busier that usual, so please plan your journey in advance.
We advise you to check the times of subject talks you want to attend when planning your travel. Please note that this Open Day is taking place on the first weekend of York's Christmas markets. We expect the city centre and transport links to be busier that usual, so please plan your journey in advance.
For travel information on getting to York St John, visit our Find us page.
Unfortunately there is no on-campus parking available for visitors. Parking spaces on our campus are controlled by automatic number plate recognition and you may incur fines if you stay longer than the grace period. There is also no parking at our accommodation or Sports Park sites.
There are several council-owned car parks near the York St John campus, but please be aware that these can be costly if you are staying all day. York is well served by Park and Ride services on all major entry roads. We encourage visitors to use these wherever possible.
Please note that the car parks closest to the campus (Union Terrace, Monk Bar and Foss Bank) are popular shopping and tourist car parks so may be full by mid morning.
We aim to make our Open Days as accessible as possible. If you are a Blue Badge user, you are welcome to drop off and pick up on campus. We ask that you do not stay longer than 20 minutes while picking up or dropping off so that others are also able to use these slots.
Free tea and coffee will be available from the Temple Foyer and Holgate dining room.
We also have food and drink outlets on campus where you can buy lunch and other refreshments. These include:
- Holgate Dining Room, Holgate building
- Haxby Road Sports Park cafe
Please note that our campus is cash free and our catering outlets only accept card payments.
You are welcome to bring reusable hot drink cups and water bottles on the day and fill these at the various water points across campus and at refreshment stations.
York also has many local businesses nearby offering a range of food and drinks. The streets Gillygate and Goodramgate are close to campus and have lots of cafe options.
Wheelchair accessibility
When you arrive at Open Day, all visitors including wheelchair users can sign in at our main entrance. Wheelchair users may need to take an alternative route to progress into the centre of our campus as the main route includes 4 steps.
The accessible route will be out of the sliding doors from our sign in station in the Arts Foyer. You can then follow the signs to exit the buildings near the Phoenix building, and enter the Quad through the archway. This route is shown on the Open Day map you will receive when you sign in.
All talks take place in wheelchair accessible areas. The majority of our campus tour route is accessible to wheelchair users, however due to the nature of our older listed buildings, some areas are not. If you have any questions about accessibility please visit the Information Helpdesk.
Hearing accessibility
For visitors who benefit from the use of a Hearing loop, most of our areas on campus are fitted with this equipment. This equipment is checked ahead of each event. If you experience any difficulties, please report these to our information helpdesk in the Holgate building. Additional microphones on lanyards are also available from the helpdesk if they are needed.
If you need a British Sign Language interpreter for your visit to the Open Day, we can arrange this. We will need advance notice to organise interpretation, so please aim to tell us about your needs when you book, or 3 weeks in advance of the event.
To make sure that as many visitors as possible can attend our popular Welcome talks, we stream the sessions across multiple venues on campus. The speakers will be based in Fountains Lecture Theatre, and if you have a hearing loop or other needs that require to be in the room with our live speakers, you can access reserved seating in this location.
Dyslexia and reading accessibility
If you need a coloured overlay to help with reading information at the Open Day, a selection of overlays is available at the Information Helpdesk.
We are not expecting any fire alarm tests so if you do hear a continuous fire alarm please evacuate the building through your nearest fire exit. Staff and Student Ambassadors will guide you to the assembly point, which is on the front lawn outside Lord Mayor's Walk.
If you require first aid during your visit please notify a member of staff or a Student Ambassador and they will contact the nearest first aider. Alternatively, you can call our Security Team on 01904 876 444. For emergency first aid please alert the nearest member of staff. Defibrillators are kept at the security office, Foss reception and Haxby Road reception.
We will have several Mental Health First Aiders on campus during the day, if you find the day overwhelming or need support. Please visit the Chapel quite space or the Students' Union lounge for this support.
Unfortunately we do not have capacity to store left luggage or heavy items. We recommend using local services at Yorbag on Petergate or Left Luggage at York railway station.
If you misplace any belongings, please check with us at the reception desk in the Holgate building. After the event has finished, any lost property will be taken to the Porters Lodge.
York St John University is proud to be a smoke free campus. Smoking or vaping is not permitted on campus grounds. Should you need a cigarette or vape break, please make your way temporarily off campus.
The safety of our visitors is very important to us, so we have extra security staff patrolling campus and accommodation sites on the day. If you wish to report something please alert a member of staff immediately.
Our photographer, videographer, and social media team will be taking photos and videos at the Open Day.
This content will be used in print, digital media, and social media. If you do not wish to appear in any images please let the photographer know.
We may approach some visitors on the day to ask if you will take part in recording content for social media. If you are interested in being involved, please let us know at the Information Helpdesk.
There are currently building works taking place in and around our Design Centre.
Please take care around building works and do not enter cordoned off areas. There should be minimal disruption to your Open Day experience, but if you have any concerns please speak to Helpdesk staff.