Just five Russell Group universities are offering fully in-person open days, an analysis shows, as parents vent their fury over virtual visits.

Universities typically hold open days during the summer and autumn terms, so students can visit before submitting their Ucas applications.

But the majority of the country’s most prestigious institutions have either cancelled their open days altogether or are offering only pared back “hybrid” versions.

University College London told prospective students that all open days will take place online, with all campus tours and visits “suspended for the foreseeable future”.

The universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, York and Durham, as well as the London School of Economics, are all running online open days as well.

Several universities – including Bristol and Manchester – are allowing students to come and look around the campus in person, but they are banned from visiting accommodation blocks or university departments.

King’s College London has told school-leavers that they are running a series of online events instead of open days, saying: “You don’t need to visit us in person to get a feel for King’s!”

Where in-person open days are being held, they are generally limiting the number of places, meaning many students miss out.

Jenny Lovatt, a 50-year-old property manager from London whose son is applying to university, said teenagers are being denied a “right of passage”.

“Only two of my son’s five university choices had proper open days, and one of them was fully booked because they were limiting numbers. We had the Labour party conference and the Tory party conference,” she said. 

“Why can adults get together like that and young people can’t even go to an open day? It’s disproportionate.

“University is a very large investment financially. You wouldn’t buy a car without test driving it or buy a house without seeing it.”