What you need to know about attending a university open day with your child

When Penny Edwards, student recruitment manager at the University of Brighton, was weighing up her own university options in the 1970s it would never have occurred to her to bring her parents to an open day. Nowadays, she says, students who don't bring one are unusual.

Perhaps you might be helping your child out with tuition fees or living costs, either way higher education is often a big family investment. "People are very concerned they are making the right choices," she says. But it should be the right choice for the student, not for the parent.