Essential Campus information

There is a full calendar of Wellbeing Activities that you can take part in each semester. These provide an opportunity to take a small break from busy university life to focus on your own physical and mental wellbeing. Whether you want to meet other students or discover techniques to overcome any stress or anxiety, there is likely to be an activity or workshop that will suit you.

The Chaplaincy is open to everyone - both students and staff - from all backgrounds and cultures. People of all faiths and no religious faith are welcome. The Chaplaincy hold a variety of weekly events such as the popular Tuesday Soup Lunch and Wednesday Evening Meal, which give you the opportunity to eat good food while meeting new people.

With over 60 societies, a variety of volunteering opportunities, different ways to represent your fellow students, and a variety of student jobs available, there are many ways to get involved in the University community via the Student Union. Plus, the Student Union (in collaboration with the Sports Union) offers a MATES scheme, which can help you meet new people, make friends and get a personalised introduction to any society or club. This can be particularly helpful if you are feeling nervous about joining a new society or engaging in any of the Student (or Sports) Union events for the first time.

With over 30 sports clubs, the Sports Union has a wide variety of opportunities for you to get involved in sport during your time at Heriot-Watt. The Sports Union also hosts a number of club-based or Union-wide social events as well as free and recreational sport sessions for students who want to try out something new.

As a Heriot-Watt student, you can take advantage of reduced membership rates when joining the extensive sports centre on campus, Oriam.

Lothian Disability Sport is the partner charity of the Sports Union. The charity supports people with a disability to access sport across Edinburgh and the Lothians. If you or someone you know would like to find out how you can get involved please visit their Lothian Disability Sport Facebook page or contact them on admin@lothiandisabilitysport.co.uk.

Music has a large role in the Heriot-Watt community. There are several ways to get involved in this through a variety of music-oriented events and music groups at the University.

There are frequent bus services into the City Centre - No 25, 34 & 35 from outside HWU main reception. The No 45 also goes into Edinburgh but is less frequent. You will have to have exact change if you are paying cash, or you can pay with contactless or get a Student Ridacard. To buy a Ridacard, you can visit the Waverley Bridge, Shandwick Place or East Coast Buses TravelHubs. Once you have a Ridacard, you can top this up at any of the TravelHubs or your local PayPoint store.

For further information, visit the Lothian Buses website.

Download the bus tracker app to track the bus and tram times and the m-tickets app to purchase and use tickets on the bus and tram services.

The nearest supermarket is Tesco, Hermiston Gait – you can get the No 25 bus and walk for 10 minutes, but for ease of public transport, most students use ASDA - No 34 bus, which drops you outside the supermarket. You can also shop online with Tesco & Asda. They will deliver for a small delivery charge, unless you meet the minimum spend requirement to receive free delivery (this can vary). You could order together with other students to share the delivery charge.

You can use Just Eat or Deliveroo to order takeaway online via their websites or by downloading their apps. They will both charge a small delivery fee.

Ensure you show your student ID card to get the student discount.

The Piece – located just next door to the main lecture theatres in the Hugh Nisbet Building and offers Starbucks coffees and frappuccinos, as well as breakfast wraps and panini.

Café Brio - A continental style café serving an exclusive range of coffees and teas, hot chocolate, sandwiches, baked potatoes, cakes, morning pastries, soup and snack bars.

Central Catering – a purpose-designed food court offering a wide range of items including soups, salad bar, stir-fries, chicken boxes, fish and chips, burgers and burritos.

Elements - located on the ground floor of the Hugh Nisbet Building offers made-to-order sandwiches and wraps, along with salad boxes.

Dewey's at the Library - offers the full range of Costa coffees plus a selection of sandwiches, soft drinks, rolls, snacks and confectionery.

Bistro 1776 (EBS) - located on the ground floor of the Edinburgh Business School, Bistro 1776 offer a range of hot and cold food along with drinks, snacks and confectionery.

Student Union

Geordies - a wide choice of hot food and specials each day. Geordies is the most sociable place to eat on campus with food served right up until 9pm.

Liberty's - For a great selection of sandwiches, paninis, baguettes, fruit/veg pots and a wide range of snacks, cakes and refreshments.

Located in the Hugh Nisbet building near the Advice Hub. The shop stocks a wide variety of grocery items, snacks, drinks, newspapers/magazines, and stationery etc.

Cash machines are situated in the Hugh Nisbet Building, outside the main reception and at the Student Union.

A membership at Oriam offers access to the fitness suite with state of the art Technogym equipment, over 30 classes a week including spin, yoga and zumba, casual sports and more.

Visit the Oriam website to purchase a monthly or academic year student membership.

The University Health Service provides the full range of general medical and dental services available under the NHS. If you are living on campus, you are encouraged to register with this Centre.

The Service is based in the University Health Centre on the Main Avenue of the Edinburgh Campus. Community Health services that are provided on a sessional basis include midwifery and psychiatric nursing. There is also a private (non-NHS) physiotherapy service.

Out with practice hours, you can contact NHS 24 by calling 111.

Contact details

The Riccarton General Practice can be contacted on 0131 451 3010. Further information about the practice can be found on their website.

The Riccarton Dental Practice can be contacted on 0131 353 0299 or via email at RiccartonDental@clydemunrodental.com. Further information about the practice can be found on their website.

Situated in the Cameron Smail Building and normally remains open 24/7 during the exam revision period, giving you plenty of time to find and use the books, journals and other material.

Students are automatically made members when they enrol with the university.

There are individual and group study places, so plenty of space for you to study, whether on your own or in groups.

There is Wi-Fi access throughout, and networked PCs and printers allow you to access University-licensed software, online databases and journals, as well as other internet resources.

The library catalogue will help you find items in our collection and tell you which type of loan (standard, week or 3-hour loan) applies to each item. You can search the library for specific books and resources via the University website.

Academic Support and Liaison Librarians

Academic Support and Liaison Librarians can provide one-to-one tuition or support for a group of students or staff on using the resources available or information skills.

Further information on how to access support from a Liaison Librarian can be found on the University website.

Effective Learning Service (ELS)

The Effective Learning Service provides support to all students to develop skills in a range of areas, including Academic Writing, Essays, Reports, Adjusting to higher education, Reading and Note Taking, and Time Management.

You can book an appointment via the Skills Hub SharePoint site.

Heriot-Watt has 10 open-access computer labs spread over the campus, with approximately 650 PCs available for student use.

During enrolment you will be given a username and password, this will be used to log on to the PCs and to access your student portal where you can then check your email and Canvas (HWU’s Virtual Learning Environment).

It is important that you check your HWU email on a regular basis as this is how your lecturers and University staff will contact you.

Disability Service: disability@hw.ac.uk, 0131 451 3386

Counselling Service: studentcounselling@hw.ac.uk, 0131 451 3386

Student Experience: studentsuccess@hw.ac.uk, 0131 451 3386

Financial Difficulties: scholarships@hw.ac.uk

Accommodation: halls@hw.ac.uk  

Residence Life: reslife@hw.ac.uk

• Offers advice and support and deals with any problems in halls.
• The Residence Life Hub is open Mon-Sun: 09:00-22:00
• The Residence Life team can be contacted via reslife@hw.ac.uk or by contacting the Safeguarding team.
• If you need urgent assistance, please contact Safeguarding on 0131 451 3500 or pick up a red phone situated throughout the public areas in your building or through the Safezone App.

Medical Centre: 0131 451 3010

Main Reception: frontdesk@hw.ac.uk, 0131 451 3501

IT Help Desk: ishelp@hw.ac.uk 

Student Service Centre: student-services-UK@hw.ac.uk

• Enrolment issues
• Update of contact details/addresses
• Exam timetables and result processes
• Processing payments and dealing with payment-related enquiries

Student Union Advice Hub: advice.hub@hw.ac.uk, 0131 451 4535

Library: libhelp@hw.ac.uk, 0131 451 3577

Oriam: Membership@oriam.hw.ac.uk, 0131 451 8400