School Open Evening Ideas: Displays, Wayfinding & Planning Checklist
A school open evening is won on two things: whether parents can find what they came for, and whether what they find looks like the school on a normal Tuesday rather than a school putting on a show. This guide covers what parents want to see, a repeatable formula every department can follow, how to signpost the building, where prospectuses go, how to involve students, and a setup checklist you can hand to a site team on the night.
Give every department the same display formula so the evening looks consistent, then signpost the route so nobody has to ask where to go. In practice that means portable display boards for student work that changes year to year, poster frames and directional signage for wayfinding, leaflet holders for prospectuses at the entrance and exit, and a clear plan for what happens after parents leave. Start promoting six to eight weeks ahead for an autumn event.
29% of secondary school parents said they considered a school's values and ethos when choosing their preferred secondary school, according to Department for Education research. An open evening gives families the chance to experience that ethos first hand, through the student work on display, the staff and pupils they meet, and the way classrooms and shared spaces are presented.
What Do Parents Want to See at a School Open Evening?
Parents come to answer one question: would my child be happy and do well here? Everything on display is evidence for or against that. The schools that do this well show six things, and show them in the pupils' own work rather than in prose about the school's vision. See the School Events hub for the wider range of equipment schools use across open evenings, careers fairs and exhibitions.
What Should Each Department Display at a School Open Evening?
Give every department the same six part formula. Departments vary enormously in how much time they have to prepare, and a shared structure means the strong ones stay strong and the stretched ones still look coherent. It also stops the evening feeling like twelve different schools.
What Should Be on Every Department Stand?
- One headline. A single line at the top, readable from across the room, saying what the subject gives a pupil. Not the department name, which parents can already see.
- Student work. The largest area by far. A range of ability, not just the top band, with year groups labelled so parents can see progression across key stages.
- Curriculum information. What is studied in each year, kept to a single readable panel rather than a printed scheme of work.
- Outcomes. Where the subject leads, including options at GCSE and beyond, and what pupils have gone on to do.
- Enrichment. Trips, competitions, clubs and visiting speakers, with photographs from the actual events.
- Staff contact. Names and roles of who parents are speaking to, so a conversation on the night can be followed up.
What Are Some School Open Evening Display Ideas?
Ideas that work tend to be the ones that show something happening rather than something achieved. These are the formats schools return to year after year.
The same pupil's work in September and in June, side by side. It shows how far a pupil has come, which is something parents cannot see on a league table.
A science experiment in progress, a 3D print running, a rehearsal in the drama studio. A live demonstration can attract attention more naturally than another static display.
A Year 7 timetable laid out hour by hour, so a parent can picture their child's Tuesday rather than the school's prospectus.
Where last year's leavers went, by name of institution or employer. Specific and verifiable, and can be more meaningful than a percentage alone.
Questions pupils were actually asked at the last open evening, with their own answers written up. Honest, and it does the reassurance work for you.
Every club, trip and team on one board by day of the week, so parents see the school does not stop at half past three.
For work that changes every year, the practical format is a folding board rather than anything fixed to a wall. Panels typically take pins or hook and loop fastening, fold flat for storage between events, and set up without tools. Our display boards range covers tabletop and floor standing configurations, and our comparison of portable boards against banner stands goes into which suits which job.
How Do You Signpost a School Open Evening?
Assume no visitor has ever been in the building. A school that is obvious to staff is a maze to a parent arriving in the dark in October, and not being able to find a department is a common frustration on the night. Clear signage has an outsized effect on how easy the evening feels to navigate.
| Point in the visit | What the visitor needs | Format that suits it |
|---|---|---|
| Approach and car park | Confirmation they are in the right place and where to park | Large external signage and pavement signs at the gate |
| Main entrance | A welcome, a start point and a map | Banner stand plus a large printed site map at eye level |
| Corridor junctions | Which way to each department | Directional poster frames, one per decision point |
| Room doors | Which subject is in this room tonight | A4 or A3 frames, consistent across every door |
| Accessible routes | Step free options and lift locations | Signed as clearly as the main route, not as an afterthought |
| Exit | Next steps, deadlines and where to leave feedback | Poster frame and a staffed table near the door |
A practical rule is one sign per decision point. Walk the visitor route yourself the week before and put a sign at every place you have to think about which way to go. A banner stand at the entrance sets the tone before anyone reads a sign, and lockable poster cases and snap frames make the rest of the route reusable, since the frame stays on the wall and only the printed insert changes between events. See the lockable snap frames and poster cases range for wall mounted options.
One practical issue schools can overlook when ordering signage is viewing height. A poster frame set for an empty corridor can end up behind a crowd once the room fills with visitors, so it is worth checking sightlines from normal standing distance in a busy corridor rather than an empty one.
Where Should Prospectuses Go at a School Open Evening?
At the entrance and at the exit, and generally not in the middle. Handing a prospectus to someone at the door means they carry it round all evening and read it on the sofa later, which is exactly what you want. A stack on a table halfway round gets passed by.
Prospectus, site map and the evening's timings, in a holder beside the welcome desk rather than in a pile on it. A tiered holder keeps three documents visible at once and stops the stack collapsing after an hour.
Application deadlines, taster day dates, sixth form information and a contact card. This is the material parents want when they have decided you are on the shortlist, so it belongs at the point they leave.
Departments benefit from a small holder on the stand too, holding a single subject sheet rather than a full prospectus. Counter standing A4 and DL holders suit this, and the leaflet and brochure holders range covers both counter and floor standing formats. Print roughly one prospectus per expected family plus a margin, and keep the rest boxed under the table rather than on it.
How Can Students Be Involved in a School Open Evening?
Heavily. Involving students can be a major differentiator between a good open evening and a forgettable one. Parents may respond differently to a pupil describing their own experience than to a member of staff presenting the school, since the pupil has nothing to sell.
Pupils stationed at junctions to walk families to departments. Solves wayfinding and shows off the pupils at the same time.
A Year 10 explaining their own experiment is more convincing than a teacher doing it, and it gives the pupil something real to say at interview later.
A short, repeated session where prospective parents ask pupils anything. Prepare the pupils, but do not script them.
The first face a family sees being a child of the school sets the tone before anyone has said a word about outcomes.
Choose a range of pupils, not only the most confident. A parent of a quiet child is looking for evidence that quiet children thrive here, and an evening staffed entirely by the head's prefects does not provide it.
How Early Should Schools Start Planning a School Open Evening?
Begin promotion six to eight weeks ahead for an autumn event, and begin internal planning before the summer holiday. Autumn open evenings cluster in late September and October, so a school that starts promoting in September is competing for attention with every other school in the area at the same moment.
What Is a Good Timeline for an Autumn Open Evening?
| When in the planning timeline | What the school should do |
|---|---|
| Before the summer break | Fix the date, book it into the calendar and check it against other local schools. Audit what display equipment you already have and what needs replacing. |
| Eight weeks out | Order anything new. Confirm the departmental stand formula and send it out so departments can collect work over the first weeks of term. |
| Six weeks out | Start external promotion. Feeder primaries, website, social, local press and the local authority admissions listings. |
| Four weeks out | Walk the visitor route and write the signage list. Send printed artwork to be produced. |
| Two weeks out | Brief student guides and staff. Confirm who is on which stand and who is on the welcome desk. |
| The week of | Build and check every stand, and confirm any contact details or social media links on display are current. |
If the order needs to go through a purchase order, add lead time for approval rather than assuming delivery time is the only constraint. Schools and academies can apply for a credit account and pay against an official purchase order, subject to approval. Volume discounts apply from two units upward, which is worth a call if several departments are ordering boards at once, and delivery is free to UK mainland addresses.
What Should Be on a School Open Evening Setup Checklist?
Run this on the afternoon of the event, walking the route in the order a visitor would.
A question we often get from schools ordering for the first time is how much equipment to buy in one go. Most start with enough boards for their busiest departments and add more the following year once they know which stands need the most space, rather than equipping every department at once.
What Should Schools Do After a School Open Evening?
The follow-up is easy to overlook, but the days after an open evening are an important decision-making window for families comparing schools.
- Send something within 48 hours. A short message with the application deadline, a link to the virtual tour and a name to contact, while the visit is still fresh.
- Keep a next step live. A current page on your website, or your school's public Facebook page, that answers what parents actually asked on the night rather than pointing them at the homepage.
- Publish the questions you were asked. Turn the recurring ones into a parent FAQ page. It is one of the most useful follow-up resources you can create, and it works for next year too.
- Offer a smaller follow up. A daytime tour for parents who want to see a normal school day suits families who found the evening overwhelming.
- Announce the next date. Put it on the exit signage and the website before the current evening is even over.
- Debrief and photograph the stands. Photograph every stand before pack down, note what worked, and store it with the equipment for next year's team.
What Do School Open Evening Displays Look Like in Practice?
A look at how schools have set up the parts of the evening that visitors notice most.
A folding board carrying the same pupil's work in September and in June side by side, with the year group labelled, so parents can see how far a child moves rather than only how polished the final piece is.
One directional poster frame at each point where a visitor has to decide which way to go, with the accessible route given the same prominence as the main one.
A science lab with an experiment actually running and a Year 10 explaining it, which holds attention in a way a photograph of the same room never does.
A banner stand, a site map at eye level and prospectuses in a tiered holder rather than a pile, so a family is oriented before they speak to anybody.
Application deadlines, taster day dates and a named contact at the point people leave, reaching parents while the visit is still fresh.
Displaysense supplies folding display boards, poster frames, banner stands and leaflet holders to UK schools, academies and multi academy trusts, with free UK mainland delivery, volume discounts from two units upward and public sector credit accounts against a purchase order, subject to approval.
A successful school open evening comes down to consistency and navigation. Give every department the same six part stand formula, built around real student work rather than printed prose, and use folding display boards so the content can change each year without new equipment. Signpost one decision point at a time, from the car park to the room door, and sign the accessible route as clearly as the main one. Put prospectuses at the entrance and next step information at the exit. Involve a genuine range of pupils rather than only the most confident. Start promoting six to eight weeks ahead for an autumn event, run the setup checklist on the afternoon, and plan the follow up before the evening rather than after it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should be displayed at a school open evening?
How can a school stand out at an open evening?
Which display boards are best for school events?
How do you display student work at an open evening?
How should you handle wayfinding at a school open evening?
Can open evening displays be reused for other school events?
What size display boards do schools need for an open evening?
How far in advance should a school promote an open evening?
Where can schools buy open evening display equipment?
The figure that 29% of secondary school parents considered a school's values and ethos when choosing their preferred secondary school is from the Department for Education's Parent, Pupil and Learner Voice survey, December 2024, based on a sample of 1,009 secondary school parents.
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