Information on our general prerequisites for 1st, 2nd and 3rd year courses.
There are a variety of subject areas where courses are very popular and spaces are limited, information can be found here on our Making course changes page.
Students will be contacted by email when enrolments open. Students can then enrol for one or two courses only (depending on the subject) and will be invited to fill any remaining spaces on a first-come, first-serve basis, on arrival in Edinburgh with the VSO.
Students can take a variety of 1st and 2nd-year courses, although there are a few where places are limited or not open to visiting students. We can advise you of these courses.
In general, there are no requirements for 1st-year courses.
Any student requesting a 2nd-year course should have completed an introductory course in the subject area. For example, entry to a 2nd-year Business Studies or Economics course is strictly on the basis of completion of an introductory course in those subjects at grade B or above.
Entry to language courses above introductory level are subject to a language test on arrival, or during the first class meeting.
3rd-year courses
For entry to 3rd-year courses, students need an overall cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above (or equivalent) and must be in their 3rd year of university study while at Edinburgh.
In order to be considered for entry, students must have completed 3 courses in that subject area, having achieved grade B or above (we will only consider college/university courses). Please refer to the Course Finder for the detailed pre-requisites.
To be eligible for 3rd-year ECONOMICS courses, students must have completed the equivalent of at least 4 semester-long Economics courses at grade B or above . However, each course will also have specific entry requirements. Please refer to the Course Finder for the detailed Economics pre-requisites.
To be eligible for 3rd-year POLITICS courses, students must have completed 4 courses in Politics or International Relations, having achieved grade B or above (we will only consider college/university courses).
To be eligible for 3rd-year ENGLISH LITERATURE courses, students must have completed 4 courses in English Literature, having achieved grade B or above (we will only consider college/university courses). We do not consider Freshman Year Seminars, Creative Writing, Composition, Civilisation or other interdisciplinary courses as meeting this prerequisite.
To be eligible for 3rd-year Psychology courses, students must have completed 3 courses in PSYCHOLOGY, having achieved grade B or above (we will only consider college/university courses) and many courses also require you to be studying Psychology as your major at your home university.
PLEASE NOTE: meeting these requirements does not guarantee admission to any course.
For more information about the English language requirements, please contact the CAHSS Visiting Student Office (VSO) at CAHSSvisitingstudents@ed.ac.uk.
The following courses are generally NOT open to visiting students:
Edinburgh College of Art studio-based and Art courses.
Education
Sport Science
College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine
4th-year undergraduate level (exceptions like Psychology are allowed)
Postgraduate level course (level 11)
English Language Requirements for 3rd/4th year courses
You need to send evidence of English language if you want to take 3rd/4th year courses (level 10) and:
You are not studying at an institution in a majority English speaking country (as defined by UKVI).
You are not studying at an institution on the approved university list. (Please check the details for your university on the linked page)
You are not a national of a majority English speaking country (as defined by UKVI).
The 3rd/4th year courses you want to take are outside of the subject area of your exchange, e.g. you have been nominated for a Politics exchange and would like to take a 3rd year History course.
You have not already provided an English language qualification (e.g. IELTS, TOEFL, Cambridge, etc.) that demonstrates a minimum of:
IELTS Academic – 6.5 overall (6.5 in each component)
TOEFL iBT – 92 overall (23 in each component) or 4.5 overall (4.5 in each component)
Trinity ISE – ISE III (Pass in all components)
Oxford ELLT Global and Oxford ELLT Digital – 8 overall (8 in each component) These must be no more than two years old at the start of your studies in Edinburgh.
Cambridge C1 Advanced/C2 Proficiency (formally CAE/CPE) – 176 overall (176 in each component), grade A-C These must be no more than three and a half years old at the start of your studies in Edinburgh.
For more information about the English language requirements, please contact the CAHSS Visiting Student Office (VSO) at CAHSSvisitingstudents@ed.ac.uk.
