Information for visiting students
How to apply to the School of History, Classics and Archaeology as a visiting postgraduate student.
The School of History, Classics & Archaeology welcomes visiting research students, whether from other UK HEIs or abroad, for specialist research or fieldwork. We also welcome taught visiting students from outwith the UK. If you are interested in visiting study, we recommend that you initially contact us at hca-pgr@ed.ac.uk .
Types of visiting student
There are two categories of visiting postgraduate student:
Visiting Taught Postgraduates
Please read the guidance in the link below carefully.
Visiting Student Office guidance
The guidance above includes details of the supporting documents you must submit with your application.
If you are admitted for one semester, you will be charged 33% of the relevant degree programme annual fee. Please see the Tuition Fees link below for details of the relevant fees.
Application deadlines
| Application deadline | Programme start date |
|---|---|
| 31 May | 1 September |
| 31 October | 1 January |
Visiting Research Students
If you are a research student, you need to identify a member of our academic staff in your field and contact them directly to get written confirmation that they are willing to supervise you before applying.
Visiting research students without an institutional agreement
This is the School’s most usual type of visiting student request. We accept these types of visiting research students throughout the year, and process these with the following application deadlines listed below. Application process times can vary, please ensure that you apply well ahead of your intended visit.
Application deadlines
| Application deadline | Programme start date |
|---|---|
| 31 August | 1 January |
| 30 November | 1 April |
| 28 February | 1 June |
| 31 May | 1 September |
Visiting research students nominated via an institutional agreement
If your research visit is part of an agreement with your institute and the University of Edinburgh, please note that this only allows Semester 1 and Semester 2 entry times and that the application dates will differ from the above. You will need to check the Study Abroad in Edinburgh dates that are on their webpage linked below. If you are unsure if your research visit is part of an agreement (e.g. European exchange), you can contact the Study Abroad team to check.
Study Abroad in Edinburgh application deadlines
Please read the guidance in the link below carefully:
Visiting Student Office guidance
The guidance above includes details of the supporting documents you must submit with your application. Please note that Visiting Students must meet the University’s standard admissions requirements, which can be found in the University’s Degree Finder.
International applicants must submit official translations of their degree certificates and transcripts. These can be obtained from the awarding institution, a British Embassy or a professional translation service.
Unless the duration of the visit is less than two weeks, all visiting students to the University must be registered on the University’s student record system.
If you are admitted to the University for less than or up to twelve weeks, you will not be charged a tuition fee. If you are admitted for more than twelve weeks and up to and including twelve months, you will be charged a flat fee rate. Please see the Tuition fees link below for details of the relevant fees.
If your research proposal is approved by the chosen academic member of staff, please contact the Postgraduate Research Office (by emailing hca-pgr@ed.ac.uk) who will then provide you with the application form.
Taught visiting students normally meet the same English language entry requirements we specify for full time programmes:
School Application Guidance - English language requirements
Visiting research students who will attend the University of Edinburgh for no more than 12 weeks and who will not be enrolled on a credit-bearing course do not require a Tier 4 visa and are not required to meet University English language requirements set out in this policy. Academic Schools will assess English language competency for these students to meet any health and safety requirements, and to ensure that the students are able to fully engage with their Edinburgh experience.
Contact
If you have any questions please contact the School of History, Classics and Archaeology Postgraduate Research Office on hca-pgr@ed.ac.uk