The sun is finally out, meaning it’s a great time to get out into the world and see it in all its beauty. But the good weather isn’t just a prompt for you to head out to the park, the countryside or the beach; it’s also Mother Nature’s way of telling you that you should go and visit a few university or college open days, to help you decide either where to apply to or where to accept an offer from for the coming autumn.

You see, the beautiful weather really brings out the best in universities or colleges and their students. After weeks and weeks of hard slog and essays, students enter the final stages of the year. And while for some–in particular the final-year students–this means many hours of cramming, very often for others it’s actually quite a relaxed time, with the exam prep being less intense than the many coursework deadlines they had to contend with earlier in the year. And once those final-year students have finished their exams a bit later in the summer, you can guarantee you’ll see them on campus, luxuriating in the final sunny days of their student experience.

All this means that the good weather gives you a sense of the true potential that the universities that you’re interested in terms of their social scene and atmosphere. A campus thronging with happy students congregating suggests a uni where people easily make circles of friends; empty green spaces and student-union beer gardens will suggest it lacks a real social focus.

These are all things you can gauge by booking yourself a spot on a spring- or summertime open day. And we’re not ashamed to say that leavingschool.co.uk is the place to look to find your open-day opportunities, thanks to the great open-day section of the website we’ve been putting together over the last few months.

The open-day section is quite possibly the web’s most comprehensive and best-organized collection of UK open days on the web. We’ve put together an exhaustive calendar of open days, meaning you can see exactly which different institutions you can visit over the next few months.

But it gets better. Click on a specific open day and not only will you get a full range of the key details (date, place, time, etc.) but also a direct link to the college or university’s open-day site, through which you can book your place at the open day.

Finding out about and booking a place on an open day has never been easier. So what are you waiting for? Get over to our open-day section now, have a browse and take advantage of the sunshine to go and see where you can next be studying in its full glory!