Prospective students
Information for prospective students who have applied to study at the University of Edinburgh.
Thank you for your application and we look forward to welcoming you to the University of Edinburgh later this year.
The Covid-19 pandemic is having a huge impact on education across the UK, Europe and worldwide, and we understand you may be concerned about how the Coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak could affect your application to study with us, or any offer that you may have received from us.
We want to keep you informed and supported throughout this uncertain period, and so we have provided answers to key questions below. As the situation develops, we will update these with the latest information we have.
If you are looking for general information on the novel coronavirus (Covid-19), please visit the NHS Inform website.
The Covid-19 pandemic is having a huge impact on the way we live and work worldwide. Here in Edinburgh, our admissions staff are observing the UK-wide lockdown and working remotely. We realise that you may be concerned about any impact this will have on your application to study with us, and we would like to give you some reassurance.
Our admissions staff have access to all our systems and are continuing to process applications as normal. Any academic staff involved in making admissions decisions are also able to participate remotely.
However, this new way of working will take a little time to settle down and it does mean you may see a delay in decision making on your application. Please bear with us as we make these adjustments. We will make decisions as quickly as we can, and we will communicate these with you as normal.
We have made your offer to study with us at the University of Edinburgh because we believe you demonstrate the potential to be successful in your studies with us, and to contribute to our university community. This has not changed. We do not intend to withdraw any offers that we have made as a result of the pandemic.
If you have a conditional offer and are worried about meeting your conditions as a result of school or university closures or cancelled exams, there is further information on this page.
At the moment, schools, colleges and universities across the world are facing closures– and we understand that this is causing great concern for students planning to begin their degrees this year. You may also be worried about how you will meet the conditions of your offer. We have further information about the cancellation of exams and assessments on this page.
Meanwhile, we encourage you to take advantage of any relevant online study opportunities available to you, to ensure you are fully prepared for your future studies.
We are aware that many universities are closed and you may be worried about whether you will be able to complete your current degree in time to meet the conditions of your offer. We know many universities have moved teaching online and are arranging alternative assessments.
We will send you updated information on the evidence we need of your final grades, and the deadline for providing this, as soon as possible. We will be as flexible as possible, while making sure you have time to get your visa if you require one.
We understand that many of our applicants have either had exams cancelled, or may not know if they will be able to take their exams as planned.
Many exam boards and awarding bodies have published advice and information about the steps they are taking to help those affected. These include awarding grades based on work you have already completed in school, tests already taken, and teacher assessments.
We will continue to monitor the information provided by awarding bodies and government agencies such as the Department for Education in the UK. We expect to be able to make decisions on conditional applications within the normal summer timescale.
We are also aware that English language test centres are closed in many countries. You may be concerned about being unable to take your English language test, or unable to use your school qualifications, to meet the English language conditions of your offer.
It is important for the success of your studies in Edinburgh that you can demonstrate good English language skills. If you come from outside the EU and you need a visa to study here, the UK government may also set an English language requirement as a condition of your visa. While we hope test centres will reopen soon in your country, we will continue to review other options and will keep you informed if we make any changes to accepted English language tests.
If your school or university is closed, you may not be able to provide all of the documents we have asked for, such as transcripts or references, at this time. If this is a problem for you, please contact your admissions team who will be able to review your deadlines.
Contact information is provided on the relevant page of the online degree finder.
We can usually defer some offers for most of our degrees. We will hold requests until the end of June and will make our decision at that point.
If you are not able to defer your offer and you are unable to come this year, we would be very happy to receive a new application for entry in 2021.
We are aware that visa centres have been closed for several weeks now in some countries. Students who had been due to start a degree in March, April or May and who have been unable to apply for their visa should contact the Student Immigration Service to discuss their options.
We hope that visa centres will reopen before other students will need to apply for visas, but will keep the situation under review.
UKVI has released important information (hyperlink: https://www.ed.ac.uk/student-administration/immigration/covid-19-important-information-about-your-visa) about visas for those affected by the Covid-19 outbreak.
If you have accepted an offer to study with us and you are required to pay a deposit, you are expected to pay this by the deadline you have been given. If this causes difficulties you should contact your admissions team. Contact information is provided on the relevant page of the online degree finder.
If you are unable to take up your place as a result of factors related to Covid-19, your deposit will be refundable.
Our priority is the health and wellbeing of our students, staff and visitors.
Recognising the rapidly evolving impact of Covid-19, we have taken the difficult decision to cancel on-campus offer holder events. Your College admissions team will be in touch with details of online content you can view to get to know Edinburgh, the University and information on specific subject areas and programmes.
We have also decided to cancel the Undergraduate Open Day scheduled for 15 June this year.
The two undergraduate Open Days scheduled for 26 September and 10 October 2020 are currently still planned to go ahead, and this webpage will be updated with the latest guidance. We are also working to develop an online alternative for prospective students thinking about starting university in 2021.
The University of Edinburgh is aware that delays to processing visas and/or obtaining English language qualifications across the world may have an impact on applications for the Pre-sessional English for Academic Purposes.
We are committed to providing the 7- and 10-week Pre-sessional English for Academic Purposes programme and can confirm that we will be offering the programme online this year. The programme, course content and learning outcomes will remain exactly as advertised on our website, but the delivery of the programme will change from in-person to online.
If you have a confirmed place on the programme, you do not need to re-apply. Your place remains confirmed for the online pre-sessional programme and English Language Education will be in contact regarding further details. If you have not yet applied for the programme, you wish to apply now, please visit the English Language Education website.
We would encourage all potential Visiting and Exchange students to apply as they would normally. We are putting into place longer deadlines for the submission of university transcripts and English language certificates, as well as working on ways to be flexible should we need to be when deadlines become nearer.
Accommodation applications are open as normal. Accommodation offers aren’t made until you have been given an unconditional offer for your University course, and accommodation contracts are not sent before the beginning of May. For more information on the University’s accommodation guarantee and properties, please visit the student accomodation webpage.