The University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh has a great reputation both in the UK and globally, and is world-renowned for the quality of its bachelor's and master's studies as well as the exceptional academic profile of staff and for its facilities. The University of Edinburgh has world-class lecturers, which is reflected in the following incredible statistics: 80 percent of all graduates from Edinburgh have received an A or B as a final grade point average! The University of Edinburgh merged with the Edinburgh College of Arts in August 2011, and now offers many more courses in art and design than they did before.

The campus is lively and there is always something going on. It is well equipped with all facilities and has one of the world's largest libraries which is divided into 17 departments. In total, the giant library houses over 3 million books. The Students' Association (EUSA) runs the university's social services, and there are as many as 290 clubs and societies. If you do not find what you are interested in, you can start a society yourself.

The sports facilities on campus are among the best in the UK, and include a swimming pool, climbing wall, gym (with boxing, shooting range, squash court, dance studio, etc.), as well as the Firbush Outdoor Center where you can do everything from cross-country skiing and windsurfing to kayaking and mountain biking. Peffermill Playing Fields offers sports fields for football, rugby, cricket and athletics. Edinburgh's award-winning Career Service can help you find voluntary or part-time work alongside your studies, as well as full-time post-graduate jobs.
 

Specialist areas

Research is Edinburgh's strongest card, whether it is in engineering studies, other science studies or social sciences. The university created the first genetically modified hepatitis B vaccine, the first assembly robot for industrial use, as well as smart phone technology used today. With a forward-looking view, they are working to develop technology and medicines that will hopefully enable us to soon cope with e.g. climate change, breast cancer and multiple sclerosis. Edinburgh is ranked highly for medicine, veterinary sciences and nursing as well as engineering, sports, architecture, art, law, politics and economics.
 

Student accommodation

Edinburgh has over 9,000 student rooms in both historic and modern facilities. The largest accommodation is Pollack Halls, which is catered, so meals will be included in the price if you stay there. You get 14 meals per week: breakfast and dinner on weekdays, and brunch and dinner on weekends. Although it is often healthier to cook yourself (depending on what you cook of course), Edinburgh is the only university in the UK to receive the "Food for the Brain Award" - which means you will have a healthy and balanced diet in the university buffet. If you do not want to have meals included and rather cook yourself, there are many other rooms to choose from.
 

History

Scotland´s capital's largest university was established in 1583 as the fourth university in Scotland, at a time when larger and richer England only had two universities. By the 18th century, Edinburgh had established itself as a leading centre during the European Enlightenment, and became one of the continent's primary universities. It is one of six "ancient universities" in the United Kingdom, but at the same time they are world leaders in modern subjects such as artificial intelligence, computer science and science in general. Today, the university is divided into three faculties: Colleges of Humanities and Social Sciences, Science and Engineering, and Medicine and Veterinary Medicine. Within these three there are various "schools" and institutes. Former chancellors of the university include Sir Alexander Fleming and Sir Winston Churchill.

As a historic and old university, Edinburgh can probably refer to more famous and famous alumni (former students) than any other university in the UK. Examples include economist Adam Smith, Prime Minister Gordon Brown, engineer Alexander Graham Bell (who invented the telephone), Charles Darwin, Sherlock Holmes author Arthur Conan Doyle, philosopher David Hume and Alexander McCall Smith (author of the book series The No. 1 Ladies'). Detective Agency) to name a few. Edinburgh can proudly boast as many as 10 Nobel Prize winners among former students! The university is deeply ingrained in the city of Edinburgh's personality and history and owns several of the buildings in the well-known Old Town.
 

The city of Edinburgh

Edinburgh is one of Europe's most beautiful cities. It is the capital of Scotland and the country's second largest city with around half a million inhabitants. The city stretches over a number of rocky hills overlooking the sea and is closely intertwined with the landscape, with buildings and monuments on top of mountains and peaks, overshadowed by cliffs.

In Edinburgh you will find the picturesque old town and medieval buildings that stretch high along the Royal Mile over to New Town's neat grid. You can visit the famous Elephant Cafe where J.K. Rowling wrote the first book about Harry Potter. Edinburgh is an exciting city, with an ever-changing perspective, and the city center is small enough to explore on foot.

Edinburgh boasts the most varied calendar of international festivals and events in the world! In August each year, the city hosts "the Edinburgh Festival", a term for a number of festivals that take place over the summer; The International Festival, which started it all, shows the best the world has to offer in classical and modern dance, music, opera and theatre. The Fringe is known for attracting experimental works - comedy and drama are the most common. This which in the beginning was the smallest of all has become the main festival, and the largest art festival in the world. The Book Festival is also held in August and houses some of the world's most famous authors. Military Tattoo is sold out every year, and is a spectacular show by military corps and performed up at the castle. At the end of the month, Mela, Scotland's largest intercultural festival, will be held. During the festival season in August, the population of Edinburgh increases by over 500,000, then there are over 1 million people in the city. During the rest of the year, the film festival, the jazz and blues festival, the science festival, the children's theatre festival, the Easter festival and the Christmas festival are held, to name a few.

Edinburgh has more bookshops per capita than any other city in the UK, and in 2004 it became the first city in the world to be named a 'City of Literature' by UNESCO. Many inventions have their roots in Edinburgh and in Scotland, which includes the phone, the TV, the first cloned mammal, the modern steam engine, stamps with stickers, logarithms, penicillin, and last but not the least - the pedal bike!

Many international students comment on how welcoming they feel Edinburgh is, and that they feel very welcome. In fact, the city was recently named "the friendliest city in the UK" in a national survey, and by the Guardian and Observer newspapers, the city has been named "the UK's favourite city" for eight years in a row! Edinburgh is the main destination for visitors to Scotland both from other countries and from the rest of the UK, and Edinburgh Castle is the most visited attraction in Scotland. The city regularly tops the polls as one of the UK's best cities to live in.

The capital of Scotland is located on the south coast of Scotland, south of the Firth of Forth which is the estuary where the River Forth flows into the North Sea. The town is located just over a quarter of an hour away from the picturesque Pentland Hills Regional Park which is a 20 km long area with beautiful, green hillsides and peaks at around 500 meters above sea level. The park is used for everything from horseback riding to cycling and running, and in the winter the Hillend Ski Center comes to life in the park. Most of Edinburgh's water reserves come from the peaks of the Pentland Hills.

The train network is well developed in Scotland as in England, and charming Stirling is just over half an hour away while Scotland's largest city, Glasgow, can be reached in 55 minutes. If you cross the border to the south, you can be in Newcastle in less than 90 minutes and York in 2.5 hours. If you are a football fan, you can either follow the Scottish league (Celtic FC who beat Barcelona in the Champions League in 2012, for example, are based in Glasgow) or you can take the train ride down to Newcastle if you want to watch the Premier League live. If you want to explore the rest of the UK, this is easy both by train, bus and cheap flights with Ryanair for example. Edinburgh has something for everyone, and it's not without reason that the city, located in a stunningly beautiful area of ​​the UK, has been voted one of the world's best cities to live in!
 

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Across the Pond is the official representative for this teaching institution for selected countries around the world which means we can help you apply to their courses and help with all the documents needed to submit an application. We can help answer questions about their courses and the institution itself as they do not necessarily have the capacity to deal with student enquiries from all around the world on a daily basis. This also means that they can ask us questions about your application and we can help explain if they are not familiar with your grades, academic background or the educational system in your home country. They also appreciate that students who apply through Across the Pond get the help they need, not only in terms of submitting the application and supporting documents, but also with everything needed before arrival in the UK, such as student accommodation, visa information, funding information and well as preparing for departure to the UK.