Applicant Days

Our Applicant Days are exclusively for undergraduate offer-holders for 2023 entry, so attendance is by ‘invite only’. Once you receive your offer email from the University of Essex, we’ll send you an email a few days later inviting you to an Applicant Day, so please look out for this. The invitation will include a rundown of what to expect on the day, a programme for your subject area, and a link to choose a date and book your place.

If you are an overseas offer-holder, you will be invited to attend one of our virtual events. However, you are more than welcome to join us at one of our in-person Applicant Days if you are able to, so if you’d like to book a place, please contact our Applicant Day Team at applicantdays@essex.ac.uk.

Our Applicant Days for courses delivered on our Colchester Campus are listed below. Please note, not all departments will feature on each date so please click on the link to the booking form in the invite email we will send you and select your subject area to see a drop-down list of available dates relevant to your department.

• Weds 15 February
• Sat 25 February
• Weds 1 March
• Sat 11 March
• Weds 5 April
• Weds 26 April 
• Sat 29 April
• Weds 10 May

Our Colchester Campus Applicant Days run from February – May on various Wednesdays and Saturdays, and provide the opportunity to meet your department, tour our campus and accommodation and chat to current students.

The event will run from 10.30am – 4.00pm. From 10.30am – 12.45pm we run an optional session called ‘Experience Essex’ which features general talks and tours of our campus and accommodation. This is aimed at students who have not visited the Colchester Campus before (on an Open Day for example) or those who would like a second look!

If you do not wish to attend the Experience Essex session, please arrive by 1pm for the Welcome Talk.

University of Essex

Wivenhoe Park

Colchester

CO4 3SQ (for SatNav purposes please use CO7 9HT)

What3words: magic.violin.frame

By car

If you’re arriving by car, please head to Boundary Road and then take the first right onto Park Road which will take you into the main entrance to the University. Once there, please look out for ‘Applicant Day Visitor Parking’ signs. On weekdays, one of our Traffic Officers will also be hand to direct you. Once you’ve parked, follow ‘Applicant Day Check-In’ signs which will guide you to the Ivor Crewe Lecture Hall; the main venue for the Applicant Day. Please note, parking is free for all Applicant Day attendees.

By train

If you’re arriving by train, we have three train stations in Colchester: Colchester Town, Colchester Hythe and Colchester North Station (also referred to as Colchester Main Station). Colchester North Station is the largest and has the best bus and taxi links so we recommend using this station. There is a taxi rank and bus stop at the station. The following buses will lead you to campus:

• Route S1
• Route 87

Further information about bus travel in Colchester can be found on the First Bus website and more information about travelling to our Colchester Campus can be found here.

At the end of the event, we will run a free coach which return visitors to Colchester North Station and depart at 4.00pm.

If you have any questions regarding travelling to our campus, please feel free to chat to one of our team.

A helping hand with your travel costs

We appreciate that traveling to university events can be expensive, and with rising costs we want to ensure that as many of our offer-holders are able to visit us. We are therefore offering a £150 bursary to reimburse your travel costs to visit us.

You can view our terms and conditions here and download the reimbursement form here.

You must meet the criteria below and return your reimbursement form and receipts (if applicable) within 30 days of your Applicant Day to be eligible for the travel bursary. These can be scanned and emailed to us at applicantbursary@essex.ac.uk or posted (the address can be found on the form and in the T&Cs).

To receive our Applicant Day Bursary, you'll need to meet all the following criteria:

• an undergraduate applicant
• an attendee of an Applicant Day
• we must receive your application and receipts within 30 days of your Applicant Day date

Please get in touch with our friendly Recruitment Events Team if you have any questions ahead of your visit.

• 01206 873272
• applicantdays@essex.ac.uk

Our Southend Applicant Day programme and event dates are currently being confirmed and will be updated when finalised. 

Our Applicant Days are exclusively for undergraduate offer-holders for 2023 entry, so attendance is by ‘invite only’. Once you receive your offer email from the University of Essex, we’ll send you an email a few days later inviting you to an Applicant Day, so please look out for this. The invitation will include a rundown of what to expect on the day, a programme for your subject area, and a link to choose a date and book your place.

If you are an overseas offer-holder, you will be invited to attend one of our virtual events. However, you are more than welcome to join us at one of our in-person Applicant Days if you are able to, so if you’d like to book a place, please contact our Applicant Day Team at applicantdays@essex.ac.uk.

We're still confirming dates, but currently our Applicant Days for courses delivered on our Southend Campus are planned for:

• Wednesday 08 March
• Wednesday 19 April
• Saturday 13 May
• Wednesday 24 May
• Thursday 01 June

Our Southend Campus Applicant Days run from March – June on various weekdays and Saturdays, and provide the opportunity to meet your department, tour our campus and accommodation and chat to current students.

We're still confirming the programme, but currently the event is planned to run from 10.30am – 2.00pm. From 10.45am – 12.15pm we run an optional session called ‘Experience Essex’ which features general talks and tours of our campus and accommodation. This is aimed at students who have not visited the Southend Campus before (on an Open Day for example) or those who would like a second look!

If you do not wish to attend this session, you are welcome to arrive just before 1pm in time for the Welcome Talk.

The address of our Southend Campus is:

University of Essex
Elmer Approach
Southend-on-Sea, SS1 1LW
United Kingdom

Car

For SatNav purposes please use SS1 1LW.

There is plenty of city centre parking in public car parks. The closest car park is located underneath University Square student accommodation which accessed via College Way and is payable by phone only. There will be signage displayed from University Square car park to the Applicant Day.

Blue badge holders with Southend on Sea issued blue badges can park for free. Badge holders with badges issued by other authorities will need to pay the appropriate car park charges, however on street parking bays remain available and free of charge to all badge holders. 

Train 

There are frequent trains from London to Southend which is served by two different rail lines, with journey times of 45 minutes to one hour:

• Southend Victoria (0.3 miles from our campus) to London Liverpool Street - operated by Abellio Greater Anglia

• Southend Central (0.2 miles from our campus) to London Fenchurch Street - operated by c2c

Both London Liverpool Street and Fenchurch have Underground and bus connections available for connections with Stansted, Gatwick and Heathrow Airport.

Bus, Coach or Taxi

• National Express operate services to Southend Bus Station from all over the UK.

• As the campus is located in the city centre, most local buses stop nearby. Buses are run by Arrivabus and tickets can be bought online or via their app. Take advantage of their Student Saver tickets, available to anyone in full-time education.

• There are also a number of local taxi services based in Southend. Below are some of those available:

  • 333444 Taxis

  • Southend Airport taxi transfer, call 07427 095060

  • Steve's Radio Cars, call 01702 559519

We appreciate that traveling to university events can be expensive, and with rising costs we want to ensure that as many of our offer-holders are able to visit us. We are therefore offering a £150 bursary to reimburse your travel costs to visit us.

You can view our terms and conditions here and download the reimbursement form here.

You must meet the criteria below and return your reimbursement form and receipts (if applicable) within 30 days of your Applicant Day to be eligible for the travel bursary. These can be scanned and emailed to us at applicantbursary@essex.ac.uk or posted (the address can be found on the form and in the T&Cs).

To receive our Applicant Day Bursary, you'll need to meet all the following criteria:

• an undergraduate applicant
• an attendee of an Applicant Day
• we must receive your application and receipts within 30 days of your Applicant Day date

Please get in touch with our friendly Recruitment Events Team if you have any questions ahead of your visit.

• 01206 876818
• applicantdays@essex.ac.uk