Undergraduate study - 2025 entry
Edinburgh: Extraordinary futures await.

Disabled applicants

Support and advice for disabled students on applying to Edinburgh.

Photo of female students working at a computer station

Your application

If you have a disability, learning difference, health or neurodiverse condition, we strongly encourage you to tell us on your application form. This will enable our Disability and Learning Support Service to contact you to begin to discuss any support requirements you may have.

Admissions and selection

No applicant will be disadvantaged in the admissions process due to a disability, health condition or learning difference.

Information regarding your condition is not used in the academic decision-making process. It is used constructively to ensure that we can make necessary adjustments, so that your programme of study is fully accessible.

If you have disclosed a disability in your application, the admissions and selection process we follow is identical to that for all other applicants.

It is only after we have decided that you are eligible for an offer of a place on academic grounds that we consider any support needs you may have.

Challenging circumstances

If you believe that your disability has had an impact on your education, we may be able to take this into account during the selection process, in accordance with our Challenging Circumstances Policy.

You should tell us about it in your personal statement, or ask your referee to include it in your reference. You can also email the relevant admissions office. We need to receive this information before the UCAS deadline.

This does not guarantee that we will make you an offer, but allows us to make our admissions decision in context. Any information needs to be received by the relevant application deadline.  

When to apply 

How to send us supporting information

You should send supporting information by email where possible. 

Email: futurestudents@ed.ac.uk  

Make sure your email includes: 

  • your UCAS identification number, or 

  • your University of Edinburgh Universal User Name (UUN) 

If you can't email us please use our online enquiry form to let us know and we can discuss alternative ways of sending the information. 

Submit an enquiry 

If you are made an offer

If you are successful in the academic selection process, we will work with you to assess your support needs and will make all reasonable adjustments to make sure you can access your chosen degree.

In the unlikely event that we are unable to provide the support you need, or if there are overriding concerns about health and safety or professional fitness to practice requirements, we will continue to work closely with you to explore all of the available options before confirming whether we can offer you a place with us on your chosen degree or an alternative.

If you provide us with information about a disability at a later stage of the admissions process we will endeavour to make any adjustments required before you begin your degree, but it may not be possible to have everything in place before you arrive.

In the very unlikely event that we are unable to make the adjustments you require, we will discuss this with you and try to find a solution, which could include offering you a place on an alternative degree if a place is available.

If you have any concerns about whether your disability will impact on your ability to study on a particular degree, please contact us and we'll be happy to help.

Contact us

Your information

We treat any information you provide about your disability, learning difference, health or neurodiverse condition as confidential. We share information about your support needs only with those who need to know, such as your Student Adviser, Programmme Director or Supervisor.

If you do not want us to share your information we will respect your wishes, but it may restrict the amount of support we are able to make available to you.

Support

Disability and Learning Support Service

Our Disability and Learning Support Service provides advice and guidance to all students who have disabilities, learning differences, health or neurodiverse conditions that affect their studies.

Before you make your application to study here, our staff will be happy to talk to you about any adjustments you may require when you arrive, or about how your condition may affect your studies.

We encourage you to visit the Disability and Learning Support Service if you attend an Open Day or Offer Holder Day, to discuss any adjustments you might need and the support we can offer. If you are unable to visit us, we can offer remote appointments on MS Teams or Zoom, and our staff can also offer advice by telephone or email.

Once you have accepted an offer from us, the Disability and Learning Support Service will work with you and relevant colleagues across the University to make sure that any adjustments you require are put in place before you arrive. They will also be able to advise you on funding that may be available to you and answer any questions you may have.

Find out more about the Disability and Learning Support Service

Financial support

If you are a UK resident, you may be entitled to claim the Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA). This is to assist you with additional expenses you may incur while studying that are directly related to your disability.

If you are not eligible for DSA, our Disability and Learning Support Service will be able to advise on other possible sources of funding to help with study support.

Accommodation

We have a wide range of accessible residential accommodation in halls of residence and self-catered flats. The Accommodation Team are always happy to discuss any additional adjustments or provisions that students may need in their housing as a result of a disability or health condition.

You can find more information on the options available on our accommodation website.

Accommodation

Policies

We are committed to supporting students who have disabilities, learning differences, health or neurodiverse conditions. We offer disability awareness training to all University staff, and the Disability and Learning Support Service runs workshops and events that promote accessibility, raise awareness and reduce stigma.

Contact us through an online sign language interpreter

British Sign Language (BSL) users can contact the University of Edinburgh via Contact Scotland BSL, the online British Sign Language video relay interpreting service.

Find out more on the Contact Scotland BSL website