A number of universities and organisations offer open days and taster courses specific to the fields of materials, minerals and mining engineering. These are the ideal opportunity to find out more about the disciplines, the specific research interests of a particular department, and in the case of residential courses, what life at university is like.

University open days and visits

Universities tend to have general open days throughout the year where you can visit to have a look around the campus, the halls of residence and get a feel for the place as a whole. Individual departments are also often open for you to have a look around and members of staff are on hand to answer any questions that you might have.

Some departments also have subject specific open days where you can have a go at experiments and spend more time finding out about the subject and department.

Details of all of these events will be available on the universities' websites.

Most departments are also willing to show interested students around, outside of these organised events. It is usually easier to organise such a visit during university vacations as staff are not teaching. You should contact the admissions tutor if you would like to try and arrange such a visit. Their contact details will be on the department pages of the university website.

Taster courses

A number of organisations run taster courses for pupils in year 10 to year 12, offering the opportunity to find out more about engineering in general or specific disciplines. Some of these courses are free of charge, but most involve a delegate fee and the number of places is restricted. The fee will usually include the course, accommodation and all meals and the courses are well supervised around the clock.

For more information visit the Headstart and Smallpeice Trust websites. Insight Couses are run specifically to encourage girls into engineering and courses on a wide range of disciplines are run around the UK.