Applicant Experience Days

What is an Applicant Experience Day?

Our Applicant Experience Days are exclusive events tailored to students who are applying to study at the University of Derby. You'll get the chance to explore your course and future campus in more detail to get a true feeling for what it would be like to study here. 

While you may have already visited us at one of our Open Days, our Applicant Experience Days are designed to help you at this exciting stage of your journey. You might have new questions for us to answer, be interested in finding out more about student accommodation, or perhaps need a little help with understanding student finance. 

Whatever you want to know or need support with, an Applicant Experience Day is the perfect opportunity to learn more about the University of Derby.

What to expect at your Applicant Experience Day

• Welcome Talk: begin your day with a Welcome Talk from a member of our Senior Leadership team where you can learn more about the University and what to expect while you visit us
• Subject Session: at 10:30am or 1:30pm you can participate in a Subject Session led by our expert academic teams. You’ll learn more about your course, engage in the subject, meet your future classmates and get a feel for what it’s like to study here. You are welcome to attend both the morning and afternoon Subject Sessions if you’d like to explore your choices
• Explore our student accommodation: step inside our student halls, named Best University Housing (UK and Ireland) in the 2024, 2023 and 2022 Global Student Living Awards, and start mapping out what your new home from home could look like
• Tour our campus: go on a relaxed campus tour where one of our current students will show you the fantastic facilities you'll have access to here including our £10.8 million Sports Centre, four-storey library, student social hub Basecamp and so much more
• Meet our Student Services and Union of Students: have a question about student finance? Want to know more about sports and societies? Our teams are here to answer any questions you might have
• Discover student life: our dedicated Student Life Zone features Derby-based businesses, so you can learn more about culture, nightlife, events, restaurants and fun things to do while you study here 

Discounted travel

If you plan on travelling to our Open Day on a National Express coach, you can save 30% discount on your return tickets to Derby bus station. Select your starting destination and departure date from the journey planner, and your discount will be automatically applied at checkout. From Derby bus station, you can catch the Trent Barton 'Allestree' service which runs frequently along Kedleston Road.