In this guide
Why preparation matters
A typical open day runs 90 to 120 minutes. The school will spend the first 20 on a head's address that is largely identical year to year, another 40 to 50 on a guided tour with a senior leader and one or two prefects, and the remainder on small-group conversations. If you arrive without preparation you absorb the headline messaging and miss the operational signals that actually predict whether your child will thrive there.
Parents who prepare well do three things differently. They arrive with a written list of questions that match what they care about, not what the school wants to discuss. They watch what the school does not draw attention to, not just the polished rooms on the route. And they write up the visit within 24 hours so the next school does not erase the memory of this one. The mechanics below are designed to make all three easier. For the broader framework on school selection, start with our pillar guide on how to choose an international school.
Two weeks before: research
The most useful single hour of preparation is reading the school's most recent inspection report. Every credible international school is inspected by a recognised body, whether KHDA in Dubai, MOE in Singapore, ISI for British Schools Overseas, or one of the IB authorisation visits. The published report tells you the school's own description of its strengths, the inspectors' challenges to that description, and the gaps the school promised to close. Read it once for context, then again with a highlighter for any phrase that surprises you. Those phrases become questions.
Read the school's last three head's letters or annual reports if they are public. Look for what has changed: a new wellbeing strategy, a revised behaviour policy, a curriculum review, a senior leadership change. Schools that publish their changes have a learning culture. Cross-check fee structures against our fees explorer so you walk in knowing whether the published tuition is competitive for the city.
Finally, look at the school's social media for the previous twelve months. Not for content quality, but for cadence. A school posting weekly with named teachers and specific events is operationally tidy.
Building the shortlist
Before you book the open day, be clear why this school is on the list. Most parents arrive at an open day with a vague sense that the school is "well thought of" rather than a specific reason to evaluate it. Write a single sentence for each school: the reason it is in your shortlist, and the question you most need answered. For one school it might be the maths extension programme; for another, the SEN provision; for a third, the proximity to home. The sentence keeps the visit honest, because at the end you can ask whether the question got answered. For the city-level shortlist work that should precede this step, see our guide on admissions timing by city and the curriculum picks under curriculum.
Three to five schools is the practical sweet spot. With fewer you have no comparison. With more, the schools blur. If your list is longer, use the school finder quiz to cut it. Two visits to one school, one structured and one informal, tells you more than three single visits to three schools.
Free open-day prep pack
Our printable open-day prep pack includes the pre-visit research checklist, the 10 questions to bring, a tour-time observation sheet and a side-by-side comparison rubric to fill in afterwards. Free with email and no sales follow-up. Request the pack or browse our city listings to see which schools in your city are running open days this term.
The night before: paperwork and questions
Print or download the inspection report and the latest fee schedule. Print your written list of questions, with two or three blank lines after each for notes. Take a small notebook and two pens. Phones are useful but draw attention away from the conversation. A printed sheet keeps your eyes on the room.
Re-read your sentence about why this school is on the list. If you can answer the underlying question from the school's published material before you even walk in, you save a question slot and free yourself to probe deeper on something else. The best open-day questions are not the obvious ones; those are answered on the website. The useful questions are the ones the website does not address. See our long list of questions to ask an international school for prompts.
Plan the commute. Drive or take public transport at the same time of morning as the school run on a normal day. The route the school recommends on a Saturday is rarely the real route on a Tuesday at eight, and the commute is one of the variables that quietly decides whether a school works for your family.
On the morning
Arrive 15 to 20 minutes early. Use the time to walk around the entrance, watch how staff greet families, look at how the noticeboards are maintained and what is on them. The displays in the entrance are curated for visitors but they tell you what the school wants you to think it is. Compare that to what you see deeper in the building once the tour begins.
Dress for the role you want, which is an attentive parent rather than a smart visitor. Comfortable shoes, weather-appropriate layers, a small bag. The school may run a stair-heavy route, especially in older buildings.
Decide before you arrive who is taking notes. If both parents are attending, divide the work: one person watches and listens, the other writes. Swap halfway through.
During the tour: what to watch
Tours are designed for the rooms that perform well. You will see the science labs, the senior library, the well-appointed art block. What you want to watch in addition is the things the school does not draw attention to: the canteen at lunchtime, the corridors between lessons, the toilets, the classroom that is not on the route. Politely ask to look at a Year 4 classroom that is in active use, or to see the lower-school playground at break. Schools that say yes are usually candid schools. Schools that decline have something they are managing.
Listen to noise. Productive classrooms are usually slightly noisy, with focused activity rather than silence. Silent classrooms during a non-test lesson are often a sign of compliance culture rather than learning. Listen also to staff speaking to each other and to children. Good schools have warmth in the voice of the head walking past a Year 2 in the corridor; weaker schools have detachment.
Watch transitions. The two minutes between lessons reveal more about culture than the ten minutes inside a lesson. Good schools have purposeful movement, clear timings and recognisable adult presence. Weak schools have chaotic transitions, lateness and groups loitering. For a useful structural read on what to look for in class size and grouping, see our piece on class size at international schools.
Who to talk to
The head is briefed and rehearsed. Useful, but not the most candid voice in the room. The most candid voices are usually the head of pastoral care, the SEN coordinator if you can secure five minutes with them, and any class teacher who is willing to chat beyond the prepared remarks. Ask the head of pastoral care directly how the school knows when a child is unhappy, and what they do in the first 10 days after a flag. Ask the SEN coordinator how many learning support staff serve how many flagged children. The numerical answers tell you more than the narrative ones. Our deep-dive on how to evaluate teachers and staff covers what to listen for.
Current parents are the third candid voice, but only if you can reach them outside the school's official channels. The parents on the tour are usually nominated. Ask whether the school will share a parent contact in your year group, and request two rather than one. If the school is willing, call both within a week. If the school is not willing, that is also a signal.
Within 24 hours: the write-up
Write up the visit within 24 hours, while the rooms and people are still vivid. Twenty minutes at the kitchen table that evening will produce a note you can rely on six months later. Memory of school visits decays sharply by week two; without notes, parents confuse one school's answer with another by the third visit.
The write-up should cover four sections: what the school said about itself, what you saw that confirmed or contradicted that, the open questions you did not get answered, and a single sentence on whether you would put your child in this school tomorrow. The last sentence is uncomfortable to write and the most useful part of the note. It forces a verdict, which you can revisit and revise as more data arrives.
Comparing schools fairly
Once you have visited three or four schools, lay the notes side by side. A simple table works: one column per school, one row per question you asked, plus rows for headline impressions, commute, fees and pastoral feel. Resist the temptation to score numerically; the gradations are too fine for honest scoring. Use a three-tier marker (strong, acceptable, weak) per cell and look for patterns. A school that is strong on most rows but weak on pastoral is a different decision than a school that is acceptable across the board.
If you are comparing two or three finalists, our compare tool produces a side-by-side data view, but the qualitative table is what most parents reach for first. The data view confirms what the qualitative view suggests. For families weighing curriculum trade-offs as part of the comparison, our piece on international school vs local school may help frame the broader decision. And for the awkward conversation that comes next about places offered and accepted, our guide to the admissions process covers what to expect.
Frequently asked questions
How early should I arrive at an international school open day?
Arrive 15 to 20 minutes before the published start. You will get a quieter walk through the entrance, a useful first impression of the morning routine and a chance to chat informally with reception staff before the formal programme begins.
Should both parents attend the open day?
Yes, where possible. Two perspectives produce sharper notes and a more balanced read of the visit. If only one parent can attend, video the headline parts of the tour (with permission) so both can review afterwards before signing anything.
Should I bring my child to the open day?
Bring older children (around 9 plus) to the formal tour; their reactions are useful data. Leave very young children at home if you can; you will absorb more without managing them on a long walk.
How many open days should I attend before choosing a school?
Three to five is the practical sweet spot. Fewer than three and you lack comparison; more than five and the schools blur in memory. If your shortlist is longer, run two visits per school to your two top candidates rather than spreading thin.
Is it acceptable to attend the same open day twice?
Yes, and it is more common than parents think. A second visit on a different week often reveals what the first visit missed. Most admissions teams accommodate it without comment; some welcome it as a sign of serious interest.