Heriot-Watt University

Your degree is completely career-focused, ensuring your skills stay highly relevant to the needs of business and society. During your studies, you will have the chance to meet some of the world’s top employers, such as PwC and Bloomberg. These companies actively seek out graduates because of Heriot-Watt’s strong reputation for developing the exact skills required in modern workplaces.

The University works to ensure you step into your chosen industry with confidence, knowing you have the right foundation for a successful professional life. To further enhance your employability, you will receive all the practical support necessary to become fully career-ready. You will benefit from lifelong access to career support across all campuses, ensuring guidance is always available when you need it. Top employers will engage directly with you on campus and online through various workshops, fairs, and insight events. Additionally, you will discover thousands of vacancies via your Target Connect careers platform, while the University’s dedicated Careers team offers tailor-made advice to help you master your CV, job applications, selection tests, and interviews.

Edinburgh was voted the best city in the UK for culture (Time Out, 2023) and top 2 in the UK for students (QS Best Student Cities 2024), making it a great place to live and study in. Just 30 minutes from Heriot-Watt’s Edinburgh campus, you can find the medieval Old Town, designer shopping, beautiful beaches, and mountains. It is the best of what Scotland has to offer. Edinburgh is one of the world’s most beautiful cities. It is dynamic, modern and packed with opportunities. You’ll find culture, history and beautiful buildings alongside green spaces and hidden gems.

Edinburgh’s Old and New Towns are a UNESCO World Heritage site. You can spend hours walking the streets of this compact city and find something new at every turn. Edinburgh is packed with culture, from music and film to theatre and comedy. It is also home to the world’s largest arts festival, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and has lots of free museums and art galleries.

Edinburgh is Scotland’s capital city and is regularly cited as one of the best UK cities for business outside of London. It is full of small-scale start-ups, large multinationals and everything in between so there are plenty of opportunities for you to connect with employers or find support for your business ideas.

Edinburgh is a compact city – it’s easy to walk or cycle around and there is a great network of buses and trams. A frequent bus service runs from our campus into the city centre. You can connect to the rest of Scotland and major cities in the UK via train or bus and Edinburgh Airport connects to cities across the UK, Europe and internationally.

Heriot-Watt offers modern, spacious accommodation built to the highest standards in sustainable design and energy use. The Edinburgh Campus has a range of types of accommodation to suit your needs and budget. All campus accommodation offers an ensuite study bedroom and is single occupancy and self-catered. Undergraduate students are placed in accommodation with other new first years with undergraduate halls being located conveniently near the Student Union, sports facilities and academic buildings. The Residence Life team ensures the wellbeing of all students living on campus and organise regular events.

The University guarantees all new full-time students an offer of accommodation either on or off campus in their first year. You are covered by the guarantee if:

• you are a new full-time student for a full academic year starting from September;
• you have a conditional or unconditional firm offer of a place at the University;
• you reside outside the city of Edinburgh; and
• you apply for accommodation online before the accommodation guarantee deadline.

As soon as you have received an unconditional or conditional offer of a place with Heriot-Watt you can start the process of securing accommodation.

Heriot-Watt’s main campus in Edinburgh is set within 380 acres of spacious, green parkland and offers an ideal environment for studying and socialising.

At Heriot-Watt University, there are a wide range of services on offer to help you deal with all aspects of your life, whether these be academic, personal, technical, financial or just plain fun! Student Services are on hand to support your learning through a wide range of provision including accommodation, computing, healthcare, sport, welfare and careers. University support complements the services and facilities offered through the Students’ Association.

With over £9 million being invested in refurbishing the Library and Learning Commons areas, Edinburgh students can expect high quality, technology-enabled study spaces. The on-campus library is open 24/7 during semester and exam times, giving you plenty of time to find and use the books, journals and other material.

GRID is a new ground-breaking facility to advance Heriot-Watt’s global research, innovation and discovery. It has been designed to create cohesion between academic disciplines, industry partners and the global community, providing an innovative teaching and learning environment for mathematics, engineering, physical sciences and computer science students and staff.

At Heriot-Watt University, we recognise that environmental sustainability is a shared responsibility that influences every aspect of how we live, study, and work. Our Climate Action Framework was co-created with our dedicated students, staff, alumni, and external community groups. This initiative outlines our University-wide approach to reducing our environmental footprint and fosters a culture of action that empowers everyone to take meaningful steps towards a sustainable future.

Professor Mercedes Maroto-Valer, Deputy Principal for Global Sustainability