Undergraduate study - 2025 entry
Edinburgh: Extraordinary futures await.

Understanding our entry requirements

An explanation of our entry requirements and how to understand them.

Student reading in café

To apply for a place at Edinburgh, you will need:

  • qualifications
  • a personal statement 
  • a reference 
  • evidence of your English language skills through qualifications

For some specific degree you may also be asked to:

  • attend an interview 
  • sit an admissions test 
  • submit a portfolio of your past work 
  • provide evidence of relevant work experience

We call these our entry requirements. The qualifications and grades you need vary by degree and may also depend on whether you are a widening access student.

Our entry requirements

Our undergraduate degree finder lists all of the degrees we offer and the entry requirements you will need.

We list the entry requirements you will need if you are studying Scottish Highers, A Levels and the International Baccalaureate. You should take the time to read this information carefully.

For most degrees we will list:

  • standard entry requirements
  • minimum entry requirements
  • required subjects
  • English language requirements

Standard entry requirements

Each degree has specific grades that you must achieve. We set these requirements based on demand in previous admissions cycles.  

Standard entry requirements for SQA Highers will always be expressed as a single set of grades. A Level and IB standard entry requirements will sometimes also be stated this way, for example:

  • SQA Highers: AAAA
  • A Levels: A*AA
  • IB39 points with 666 at HL

A Level and IB standard entry requirements will, most of the time, be expressed as a range of grades, for example:

  • A Levels: A*AA - AAB
  • IB: 39 points with 666 at HL - 36 points with 665 at HL

The highest of these grades is referred to as the 'upper grade level', and the lower as the 'lower grade level'.

We call these required grades our standard entry requirements.

Unless you are a widening access student who is eligible for a Plus flag, you will be expected to meet or exceed the single set of grades in order to be competitive in the selection process for the relevant degree programme. Where entry requirements are expressed as a range, if you have met or exceeded, or are predicted to meet or exceed, the lower grade level listed in our standard entry requirement, you will be entered into our selection process to be considered for a place on the relevant degree.

Entry into our selection process, regardless of the grades you have achieved, does not guarantee that you will receive an offer.

Because competition for places is high, you will usually be expected to achieve the upper grade level to receive an offer. However, please note that competition for places can vary by fee status and may be very high where places are limited. We normally make offers to the highest qualified applicants. In some cases, this means that offers may only be made to applicants who have achieved above the single set of grades, or the upper grade level. Therefore, achieving the top of our standard entry requirements does not guarantee a place on the relevant degree. 

Information on offer rates and tuition fee status is available on our admissions statistics page.

Admission statistics

You may receive an offer at a lower grade level if the number of applications for a degree is broadly similar to the number of offers we have available.

Fee status and admissions

Conditional offers

Conditional offers will generally be made at the level of grades that applicants who are selected to receive an offer for a particular degree have achieved, or are predicted to achieve.

If all applicants selected to receive an offer for a degree have achieved, or are predicted to achieve, grades higher than the upper grade level in the entry requirements then the conditional offer will be based on the lowest grades achieved, or predicted to be achieved, by the selected applicants.

This means that conditional offer requirements may sometimes be higher than the upper grade level for a degree. For example, where the upper grade level is AAA, but all applicants selected to receive an offer for that degree have achieved, or are predicted to achieve, at least A*AA then conditional offers for that degree will require A*AA.

Minimum entry requirements

Each degree also has a minimum entry requirement.  We set these requirements based on the minimum qualification level an applicant needs in order to be successful on the programme. Minimum entry requirements are always expressed as a single set of grades regardless of qualification type, for example:

  • SQA Highers: ABBB
  • A Levels: ABB
  • IB: 34 points with 655 at HL

If you are eligible for a widening access offer, you may be considered at your degree’s minimum entry requirements, including specific grades in any required subjects.

You can find out more, and see if we will consider you to be a widening access applicant, on our Access Edinburgh pages.

Access Edinburgh: widening access offers

Required subjects

For many degrees, we will expect you to have achieved your grades in specific subjects.

In these cases, your qualifications must include the subjects listed at the grade that is specified in the degree finder, or higher.

Preferred subjects

Some of our entry requirements state preferred subjects. While these subjects are not required for entry, your application will be given preference in selection if you have these qualifications.

Recommended subjects

Some of our entry requirements state recommended subjects. While these subjects are not required for entry, they are good preparation for study. Your application will not be affected by whether or not you have these qualifications.

English language general entry requirements

For entry to all our degrees, you must provide evidence that your level of English will enable you to succeed on your chosen degree.

English language general entry requirements

Additional requirements

For a few degrees we ask for additional requirements. For example, you may be asked to:

  • come to an interview, for medicine, veterinary medicine, nursing, or teacher education;
  • submit a digital mini portfolio, for art, design and fine art;
  • sit an admissions test, such as the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) for medicine;
  • provide evidence of relevant work or voluntary experience and meet fitness to practice standards, for professional degrees.

Entry requirements

You should have achieved (or be predicted to achieve) our entry requirements, including required subjects, for the degree you have applied for.

For some degrees, we may be able to consider all applicants who meet the entry requirements. For highly selective degrees we may only be able to consider candidates who exceed the requirements, as these degrees attract many highly qualified applicants.

You can use our degree finder to find entry requirements.

Degree finder

Accepted qualifications

We welcome applications from students studying a wide range of UK and international qualifications.

 

If your qualifications are not listed please contact us to discuss your options.

Get in touch using our online form

Recent study requirements

To demonstrate that you are prepared for degree-level study, you must have achieved the qualifications you use to meet our entry requirements within the previous three academic years before your date of entry.

Mathematics and informatics degrees

Any Mathematics qualification you will use for entry to any of the following degrees must have been achieved within the previous two academic years:

  • BSc (Hons) Applied Mathematics
  • MA (Hons) Mathematics
  • BSc (Hons) Mathematics
  • BSc (Hons) Mathematics & Business
  • BSc (Hons) Mathematics & Music
  • BSc (Hons) Mathematics & Physics
  • BSc (Hons) Mathematics & Statistics
  • MMath Applied Mathematics
  • MMath Mathematics
  • MA (Hons) Economics & Mathematics
  • MA (Hons) Economics & Statistics
  • MA (Hons) Philosophy & Mathematics
  • BEng (Hons) Software Engineering
  • BSc (Hons) Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science
  • BSc (Hons) Artificial Intelligence
  • BSc (Hons) Computer Science and Mathematics
  • BSc (Hons) Computer Science and Management Science
  • BSc (Hons) Computer Science and Physics
  • BEng (Hons) Computer Science
  • BSc (Hons) Computer Science
  • MInf (Hons) Informatics
  • BSc (Hons) Cognitive Science

You may be exempt from this requirement if you are an applicant from Singapore. For more information visit our Undergraduate entry requirements for students from Singapore page.

Undergraduate entry requirements for students from Singapore

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