How do I join TestEd?
The TestEd study is currently being opened up across the University of Edinburgh.
- Video: Promoting TestEd to our students
- A message from Vice-Principal Colm Harmon to new and returning students about the new opportunity to take part in TestEd, a less invasive method of testing for Covid.
How do I join TestEd?
The TestEd study is currently being opened up across the University of Edinburgh. Registration requires a university email address, unique university user name and password. You will be asked to give a few details about yourself e.g. name, email address, and mobile phone number (if you have one) and you will then be provided online with a study participant number and barcode and the Participant Information Sheet. Once you have read this you will be asked to consent to the study and asked to complete a short demographic form. The entire process takes on average takes approx. 5 minutes.
You should either store your participant barcode on your mobile phone, or print it out as a paper copy. It is essential that you take this barcode with you each time give a sample at a designated collection point.

How do I give a sample for TestEd?
Giving a saliva sample is a quick, easy, non-invasive process. The most important thing is to remember to take your participant barcode with you to all visits when donating a sample. It involves depositing a small amount of saliva approximately 1 ml into a small cup, which is then placed in a tube with a sample barcode on it in the privacy of a booth. Please see the demonstration video on the homepage.
There are two barcodes 1. a participant barcode 2. a sample barcode.
The participant barcode is unique to each participant, and the sample barcode is unique for every sample.
The participant barcode is always scanned in once via the barcode scanner, and the sample barcode on the tube is scanned twice.
Every TestEd booth will have a set of step by step sampling instructions within it which are straightforward and easy to follow.