Visitors to the autumn open day in October 2011

Excited comments about the autumn open day on Saturday (8 October) for potential students spread quickly across social networking sites on the internet. 

Dozens of individual tweets on the microblogging site, Twitter, were full of praise for the campus, student residences, staff, degree programmes on offer and the opportunity to live in or near Brighton. Here are a few examples: 

• @emmilyclare
  Loved Sussex Uni so much, and Brighton is amazing! Such a good weekend :') 
• @Louisepawley
  Fell SO in love with @SussexUni and Brighton yesterday! I don't want to go anywhere else after seeing it! 
• @gerrogg
  @SussexUni I particularly liked the accomodation - better than the other universities I've seen! 
• @TheHubbard
  Been to @SussexUni again today and it has once again reinforced the fact I want to study Physics at Sussex! 
• @richiejv
  @SussexUni looks incredible, definitely found my first choice uni! 

The students came along with family and friends to look around campus, meet academics, drop in on accommodation and take tours into Brighton. 

In total the event attracted more than 7,500 bookings making it the largest open day ever held at Sussex - news that will be reassuring to those with concerns that higher fees from 2012-13 could put students off university. 

This was the first real test of interest in Sussex since the government's decision to reform the funding of higher education. 

In a speech to vice-chancellors last month, the Business Secretary, Vince Cable MP, said that the government would "be looking very closely at how applications fare" for 2012-13 and added optimistically: "Vice-chancellors have been telling us about encouraging numbers of prospective applicants attending their open days." 

This was certainly the case this year at Sussex, where the open day proved so popular that the capacity of the event was increased by more than a thousand places. 

Even then, Student Recruitment Services have also had to organise further events for this week to cater for 1,000 visitors who were unable to book onto the open day once it had reached its increased capacity. 

David Winstanley, Head of Undergraduate Recruitment, said: "I'm delighted that interest in Sussex continues to grow, despite the government's changes to the fees and funding regime. 

"This is testament to the efforts of the staff and students across the institution, who work hard to demonstrate the benefits of a Sussex degree and give visitors a taste of what Sussex has to offer. 

"We really enjoyed showcasing new developments on campus, such as the refurbished Bramber House, the Northfield residences and the emerging new academic building." 

Daniella Salvage, Events Manager in Student Recruitment Services, highlighted the importance of the day: "Recent market research commissioned by Student Recruitment Services suggests that, among our applicants, the open day ranks in the top three factors when making decisions about which university to apply to. 

"Prospective students rate our events very highly indeed, and highlight particularly the friendliness of University staff. This can make a real difference to whether a student decides to apply to Sussex."