Student checklist: Before your course starts

First things first: are you a new or returning SRUC student?

New student

If you've never studied a degree-level course at SRUC before, you're considered a new student when registering and making your transition to studying with us.

New student checklist

Returning student

If your course is longer than one year and you're returning to SRUC for another year or if you've finished your course at SRUC and are planning to study another, you're a returning student.

Returning student checklist

New students

Here are the things to do when you become a new student at SRUC. Scroll down for more detail on all of these.

Key areas for action
Register as an SRUC student
Tell us your study needs
Complete your induction training
Attend Welcome Week
Apply for funding

Please do these before you start your course
Download the MySRUC app
Apply for accommodation
Read your SRUC policy documents
Sort your personal protection equipment (PPE) kit
Submit your coach transport form
Submit your car parking permit form

Other things you may want to consider
Apply for your visa
Organise your diary
Get your SRUC email address
Get your student ID card
Register for a GP and dentist

Returning students

Here are the things to do when you become a new student at SRUC. Scroll down for more detail on all of these.

Key areas for action
Register as an SRUC student
Tell us your study needs
Attend Welcome Week
Apply for funding

Please do these before you start your course
Apply for accommodation
Sort your personal protection equipment (PPE) kit
Submit your coach transport form
Submit your car parking permit form

Other things you may want to consider
Organise your diary

Key areas for action:

Register as an SRUC student

(new and returning students)

To become a fully registered student of SRUC, you must register online. Use the link below to go to our dedicated page that explains how to do this.

You must do this every year before the start of your programme of study.

If you need extra help or support with any part of the process or with general registration enquiries, please don't hesitate to be in touch with the faculty office at the campus you'll be studying at.

Detailed registration instructions

Tell us your study needs

(new and returning students)

While preparing to study at SRUC, please tell us about your study needs by completing our student assessment and IT assessment forms below.

While we ask you to do this now, please also remember that while you're studying at SRUC you are always welcome to talk to us about your disability or additional support requirements, health and mobility concerns, or mental health issues, whether or not you've told us about them before. You are also encouraged to let us know if you suspect you have a disability, even if you are not sure.

We have a dedicated support team but our aim is to have all students feel confident to approach any member of staff if they are worried, distressed or in difficulty of any form. All information will be given due respect and attention and will be acted on as appropriate.

If you need additional information or would like to discuss your specific requirements or concerns, you're encouraged to contact our dedicated support team who will be more than happy to help. You can find their contact information on our education support page.

Student support assessment form

All students, whether you have (or suspect) a disability or not are encouraged to fill out our student support form. We will send it to the student support team at your campus who will use it to make sure you get any support you need.

IT resource assessment

To make sure you have all the resources and support you need to take part in online teaching and to excel, we ask that all students complete our IT assessment form every year. We'll use the information you provide to make sure you have all the computer and digital equipment and programmes you need for your course and to provide you with anything you're missing.

Complete your induction training

(new students only)

After you have completed registration, you will go through another process called induction. While registration was mainly focused on getting your paperwork in order so that you can study at SRUC, induction is mainly focused on getting you physically and mentally prepared to begin your studies with us. Induction takes place online via our online learning platform Moodle and in-person during Welcome Week.

Learn more about induction and how to complete it on our dedicated induction information page.

Detailed induction information

Attend Welcome Week

(new and returning students)

Welcome Week will provide you with campus and programme-based inductions run by your Programme Team Leaders and Academic Liaison Managers as well as offering a programme of other events run by your Students’ Association.

The timetable of events for Welcome Week differ depending on your programme and which campus you are studying at, details of this are available in the Welcome Week Moodle tiles for each campus. You can also find a summary of all Welcome Week schedules/timetables on our terms dates and timetables page.

Distance learning students will be informed of their welcome and induction arrangements by the leads of their study programmes.

Apply for funding

(new and returning students)

Funding, including bursaries and loans to help with tuition fees, living, and travel costs, is available to help you complete your studies at SRUC.

What you can apply for and how to apply for it depends on what you're studying and if you're a Scottish resident, UK, or international applicant. Whether you're studying full-time or part-time can also determine what you qualify for.

It can feel complicated and confusing, so we've broken all this down in our fees and funding pages to make it easier, but if you do need help with anything or want information specific to your situation, please get in touch. We're happy to help. You can contact us at registryfunding@sruc.ac.uk

Fees & funding

Please do these before starting your course:

Download the MySRUC app

(new students only)

My SRUC is the newly refreshed official app from SRUC, where you can access everything you need to get started with student life.

You can:

Access Student Advantage
Check your student emails
Use your student digital ID (following registration)
Keep up to date with news and events at SRUC
And much more!

MySRUC is the gateway to your student experience, with everything you need in one convenient location.

It is available to download on iOS, Android, and via the web.

Apply for accommodation

(new and returning students)

Not all SRUC students will need accommodation, but if you do, you'll need to apply for it as soon as possible after accepting your offer.

SRUC has access to a range of accommodation available for students, either on campus or in the local area.

More detailed information - including accommodation options, costs, application form, and accommodation support contacts for both on-campus and local accommodation options can be found on our accommodation pages.

Student accommodation

Read your SRUC policy documents

(new students only)

As part of the registration process, you will be required to read a number of SRUC policies that you need to follow while an SRUC student. You will need to tick a box during your online registration process to declare that you have read them and will abide by them.

These policies are:

Acceptable use of IDS facilities
Turn it In declaration
Equality, Diversity, & Inclusion policy
HESA collection notice
Student declaration and undertaking

A copy of these policies is available to read from our registration instructions page. They will also be available for you to read while completing your online registration, but should you want to read them in advance to save time later, you are welcome to do so by downloading them from our registration instruction page.

Registration instructions

Sort your personal protective equipment kit

(new and returning students)

Depending on your course, you may need to order or purchase personal protective equipment (PPE).

You can find out exactly what PPE you need on our PPE website page and order it online through our supplier Guthries.

You will need to know if your course is considered further education or higher education. Further education students must purchase their PPE through the Guthries website while Higher education students can purchase their PPE through Guthries or they can supply their own PPE.

Detailed PPE information

Sort out how to get to campus

(new and returning students)

SRUC provides a shuttle bus transfer from Aberdeen centre to our Craibstone estate campus. This service is free to all SRUC students. If you would like to take advantage of this service, you must apply for it using our Craibstone campus coach transport form here. More information about the service, including times and location the service operates, can also be found on the form.

A shuttle bus service is also available from both Livingston/Uphill Train Station and Linlithgow Train Station to our Oatridge campus. You do not need to submit a transport form to take advantage of this service. More information including timetables can be found on our Oatridge campus page.

You can also find travel guides that for our Barony and Elmwood campuses on those campus pages.

Submit your car parking permit

(new and returning students)

If you are bringing your own car to campus, you will need a parking permit. To obtain one, fill in our student parking application form using the link below.

Please note:
This student parking application form applies to those wishing to park at any campus except SRUC King's Buildings, Edinburgh. If you are intending to park at SRUC Edinburgh campus, you will need to obtain permission to do so by emailing facultyofficeedinburgh@sruc.ac.uk instead of filling out this application form.

Student parking application

Other things you may want to consider:

Apply for your visa

(new students only)

International students may need a visa to come the the UK to study.

Student visa: To attend a full-time course for longer than six months, you must apply for a student visa.
Standard Visitor visa: For stays less than six months, you should apply for a Standard Visitor Visa.
EU Settlement Scheme: If you have 'settled' or 'pre-settled' status under the EU settlement scheme, you don't need a visa but you will need to send us a share code to prove your right to study in the UK.
Irish citizens: Irish citizens are not subject to immigration control and do not need a visa to study in the UK.

More detailed information on how visa requirements and how to apply can be found on our visas and immigration page.

If you're unsure if you need a visa to study at SRUC or how to apply for one, you contact internationaladmissions@sruc.ac.uk with details of your circumstances.

Visas & immigration

Organise your diary

(new and returning students)

We know that getting your diary in order early on is important.

Term dates:
Term starts for most of our students in the week beginning Monday 2 September with Welcome Week. A small number of courses start earlier. Teaching for most of our higher education /on-campus students will begin in the week beginning Monday 9 September.

Other important term dates for your specific campus can be found on our term dates & timetables page.

Timetables:
Whilst you are studying with us you can access your programme specific timetable at any time via a link on the MySRUC app, which is free for SRUC students. You will need to complete SRUC registration to gain access to the MySRUC app, which will give you access to your own timetable.

If you have not yet completed registration, you can find preliminary timetables via the link on our term dates & timetables page.

Term dates & timetables

Get your SRUC email address

(new students only)

Everyone at SRUC is provided with an Outlook email account, which is an application in Office365. By using Office365 you are able to access your emails from any device at any time.

Email addresses are formatted as studentnumber@student.sruc.ac.uk

Your student email account will be valid for the duration of your study at SRUC. As an SRUC student, you are expected to check your SRUC emails regularly as we will use this for communicating with you.

Detailed instructions on how to set up and access your email on different devices can be found in our email account guide within our IT support website page.

IT Support

Get your student ID card

(new students only)

SRUC students are entitled to a matriculation card that shows you are a student at SRUC. There are two types of cards available to students. The first is a small plastic digitally capable card (matriculation card) that shows your image and you study details but is also digitally linked to SRUC campus systems such as the photocopiers and the lapsafe system which allows you to borrow laptops whilst on campus.

Additionally, SRUC offers a new digital ID card on your phone - intended to complement your matriculation card, and which can be used as an alternative in many situations but it does not link to Campus systems such as the photocopier or the lapsafe system.

Once you have registered as an SRUC student, you will be able to download the phone-based digital ID card through the mySRUC App. Your plastic matriculation card will be given or sent to you when it is printed out.

Register for a GP and dentist

(new students only)

You are strongly encouraged to register with a local medical practice and/or dentist, who can give help, advice and support on all health related matters including health promotion issues, contraception, alcohol, drugs, HIV/AIDS issues, and stress.

You can find a list of local GPs and dental practices for each campus on our health and wellbeing contact information page.

If you are not sure about something or need help registering, please contact your campus' Education Office. They can also provide you with an HC1 form to apply for help with paying for NHS costs. Their contact information is also on our health and wellbeing contact information page.

Health & wellbeing contacts

Student checklist: before you apply for your SRUC course

Want to study at SRUC? We'd love to have you! Here's what you need to do to find and apply for your course.

Student checklist: While you're a student

We're dedicated to helping you succeed throughout your time as an SRUC student.

Student checklist: Graduation, alumni, and beyond

Congratulations on successfully completing your studies at SRUC! Here's the practical information you need on graduating from SRUC and how you can stay a part of the SRUC community after you're no longer studying with us.