University of Edinburgh, details of Edinburgh university

Edinburgh

University ranking

• 2010  11
• 2009  21
• 2008  16

History

• The university was established by a Royal Charter granted by James VI in 1582.
• Famous former students include Gordon Brown, Chris Hoy, Ian Rankin, Kirsty Wark, philosopher David Hume, chemist Joseph Black, Charles Darwin and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
• Former rectors include Winston Churchill, Earl Kitchener, Alexander Fleming, William Gladstone, David Lloyd George and Stanley Baldwin.

Location and Transport

• Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland, and listed as a world heritage site.
• The city has been voted ‘Favourite UK City’ nine years running.
• Excellent road, rail and air transport links make Edinburgh accessible from all major cities in the UK and beyond.

Accommodation

• All freshers from outside Edinburgh are guaranteed an offer of university accommodation, with certain conditions. Visit the website for information.
• Our accommodation ranges from the catered to self-catered, the modern to the traditional.
• Accommodation is based over 25 sites, all located within a short walk or bus ride of Edinburgh's centre.

Entry standards

League Table

• Our minimum entry grades have been set at a level to encourage applications from a wide range of backgrounds, whilst meeting our academic requirements.
• Please use our on-line degree finder to check entry requirements for particular degree programmes.

Bursaries and Scholarships

• There are no variable tuition fees in Scotland. Fees for 2010–11 have not yet been confirmed. If you are a Scottish-domiciled first degree student you are eligible for your tuition fees to be covered by the Scottish Government. Scottish students should apply to the SAAS to cover this cost. Students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland should apply for a fee loan to Student Finance England, Student Finance Wales, and Student Finance Northern Ireland as appropriate. Students from elsewhere in the EU should contact the SAAS.
• Tuition fees for non-Scottish domiciled students for 2009–10 have yet to be confirmed but are expected to be £1,820 a year (£2,895 for medicine).
• The RUK Bursary has been introduced for students normally resident in England, Wales or Northern Ireland only, studying at a Scottish university, who would otherwise have been eligible for a £319 national minimum bursary (i.e. in receipt of full HEMG) had they studied at a university in the rest of the UK. The RUK Bursary is currently worth around £310.
• Fees for placement year and year abroad are normally 50% of full-time fee.
• Over 180 Entrance Bursaries of between £1,000–£2,500 a year for students from schools or colleges in the UK whose financial or personal circumstances might prevent them from entering higher education. 90 bursaries of £1,000 are available to first year undergraduate UK students living in university accommodation. The Centre for Sport and Exercise offers a substantial programme of education, support services and funding for outstanding student athletes who are selected onto the Sports Bursary programme.
• Industrial Scholarships within the Schools of Engineering & Electronics, Informatics and Chemistry of £1,000. Opportunities to undertake a paid work placement over the summer months are also available.
• More information on bursaries and scholarships at the University of Edinburgh is available here.

Student mix

• The undergraduate 2007–8 gender split is 57% female, 43% male.
• 2007–8 undergraduates by entry domicile: Scotland 46.6%; rest of UK 34.4%; rest of EU 6.8%; rest of world 12.2%.
• Proportion of undergraduates from state schools or colleges 68%.
• Ratio of undergraduate applications to accepted applicants 10.7:1 (note that the number of accepted applicants, those expected to arrive, is a close proxy for the number of entrants).

Course flexibility

• Typically the degree programmes take four years, the first two years offering more general, flexible study.
• This gives an opportunity to study courses outside student’s main subject area, for most of our degrees. In many cases this gives the flexibility to delay the final choice of Honours subjects.

Teaching standards

League Table

• The Quality Assurance Agency's Enhancement-led Institutional Review expressed broad confidence in the university's current, and likely future, management of the quality of its provision and the academic standards of its awards. Broad confidence is the highest point on the three-point confidence scale used in ELIR. 
• Internal reviews of teaching ensure that high standards are maintained and courses are up to date.
• The reviews also play an important role in facilitating change, improving teaching methods and enhancing the student experience.

Research standards

League Table  

• One of an elite group of institutions recognised for international standard research.
• In the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise, the university received a 5 or 5* (highest award possible) in 25 subject areas.

Academic strengths

• The Edinburgh Medical degree has long been one of the most highly-regarded qualifications in the world.
• Research of international standing in physical sciences, biological and biotechnological sciences, engineering, informatics, earth and environmental sciences and mathematics.
• Home to leading international researchers across the arts, humanities, education, law, management, health and social sciences.

Student facilities, including Library and Computing

League Table  

• Heavy investment in open-access computing provision. There are now over 1,000 seats available in 20 labs.
• Scotland's largest university library holds around three million printed volumes, more than 600,000 electronic books and more than 20,000 electronic journals.
• Received a Matrix Award for Excellence for our Careers Service, which offers skills training, guidance and careers information.

Disability Services

• Information about disability services at the University of Edinburgh is available here. 

Students’ Union

• EUSA is run by students for students, offering free and confidential advice and supporting over 200 student societies.
• EUSA runs the city's biggest student nightclub (capacity 1,000), with a state of the art lighting and sound system.
• Teviot, the largest union building, has five bars over seven floors and offers stand-up comedy, pub quizzes, ceilidhs, etc.
• More information about the students' union at the University of Edinburgh is available here.

Sport

• One of Scotland's leading sporting universities, the British Universities and Colleges Sports Association ranked Edinburgh in theirUk  top five in June 2008.
• Facilities include state-of-the-art gyms, residential centre for outdoor activities, swimming pool, extensive playing fields and sports injury clinic.
• The Sports Union (EUSU) enters more teams than any other university into the British Universities Sports Association (BUSA) leagues.
• More information about sport at the University of Edinburgh is available here.

Recent/prospective new builds

• The new medical school was completed in 2002 at a cost of £38 million.
• The university recently completed a new £37 million building for the School of Informatics – a unique purpose-built research facility.
• Phased refurbishment/remodelling of the main library, which will provide students with excellent study and learning resources, an investment of approximately £60 million.

Availability of part-time work

• The Careers Service maintains a vacancy and employer database, offering regular or one-off part-time work, as well as other vacancies. 
• Vacation work should be easy to find as Edinburgh is a busy capital city which is popular with tourists.

For further information

• www.ed.ac.uk
• sra.enquiries@ed.ac.uk
• The University of Edinburgh, 57 George Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9JU
• +44 (0) 131 650 4360 
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