Course registration and change
Information on course registration for Taught MSc students.
Choosing your courses
It is important that you select your courses by the deadline so that we can allocate you to tutorial and lab groups in good time for the start of the new session.
It is your responsibility to check that you have chosen an appropriate set of courses (equalling the correct number of SCQF credit points, balanced across semesters and accessible via the course timetable) to meet your degree requirements. Informatics courses are worth either 10 or 20 credit points, nominally equivalent to 100 or 200 hours' student effort. Students studying on a full time Informatics MSc degree programme must be registered for exactly 180 credit points:
- 120 credits of taught courses in semester 1 and 2
- 60 credits of dissertation
You will find details of course requirements and advice on selecting optional courses, by degree programme, at the following link:
As well as having a University course code, all Informatics courses have an acronym, which Informatics staff and students often use to refer to the course. However, staff and students in other schools may not be familiar with our acronyms. A convenient way of finding all Informatics courses (including their acronyms) is the full sortable list of Informatics courses.
Full list of Informatics Courses
Checking the timetable of your potential course choices
It's important to attend all the course activities available: lectures, tutorials or workshops, and labs. Some non-Informatics courses will have lectures and other activities that clash with Informatics activities and some infrequently-chosen combinations of Informatics courses may have clashes.
In order to avoid timetable clashes you can check what your selected course timetable would be by using the Course Timetable Browser tool. Note that the tool will show lecture activities for the whole class where everyone is expected to attend and will show every option for group activities such as tutorials and labs; you are not expected to attend every option. You will be assigned to a particular group later, after your course choice is added to your student record. For most courses you will be able to change your group if you need to find a better fit for your timetable.
The University Timetabling Unit has more information on student timetables, including how to change your tutorial group:
You must ask your Student Adviser to approach the School Curriculum Approval Officer (SCAO), if you require special permission for a concession to take a course which is not normally available to you.
All students must select courses for the whole academic year at the start of Semester 1.
Course Choice Support
A number of sources of support are available as you make your course choices:
- Course Selection Sessions – these are information and Q&A sessions. You are invited to attend a programme group session shortly before the course enrolment forms are made available. Links to recordings of the 2023 Course Selection Sessions will appear below.
- Individual Advice – if you have further questions after attending a course selection session and reading the guidance in the form, you can contact your Student Adviser for advice. They are available on Level 6 of Appleton Tower or via email: inf-sst@inf.ed.ac.uk
Recordings of 2023/24 course selection sessions for MSc students will appear here.
MSc ATFD Course Enrolment Video
- Video: ATFC Course Enrolment Video
- ATFC Course Enrolment Video
MsC Computer Science Course Enrolment video
- Video: Computer Science Enrolment Video
- Computer Science Enrolment Video
MSc Design Informatics Course Enrolment video
- Video: MSc Design Informatics Course Enrolment Video
- MSc Design Informatics Course Enrolment Video
MSc Data Science Course Enrolment video
- Video: MSc Data Science Course Enrolment Video
- MSc Data Science Course Entrolment Video
Course Selection Forms
The link below the guidance below takes you to the Informatics Course Enrolment Forms.
- First select your programme and then select courses in the form that appears.
- The course selection form will check that your choices are consistent with the Degree Programme Table (DPT) for your programme, and that the balance of taught credits across Semester 1 and Semester 2 is reasonably balanced.
- To make the amount of coursework you undertake in the semester manageable, you should think carefully about selecting many 10-credit courses and/or many coursework-only courses.
- The course code for each course in the form links to the course's DRPS descriptor. The exact weighting between coursework and exam is listed in the Assessment section of the course descriptor.
- If your course has exams, you should check whether the exams will be held in the December or May diet. It is essential that you plan to be in Edinburgh for the time of your exam(s).
- The form does not check for timetable clashes - use the instructions on "checking the timetable of your potential course choices" above to check for clashes for your chosen selection.
- You will be asked to confirm your choices before submitting the form. There’s a confirmation message when you submit the forms, but no confirmation email. Please make a note of the chosen courses for your own record before you submit the course enrolment form.
- When we receive your form we will enter your selection into your student record - this may take a few days. Due to the volume of forms being processed by the Student Experience Team, no confirmation emails are issued when you have been signed up to your selected courses.
Informatics Course Selection Forms
The link below has more detailed information about assessment, coursework and exams in the School of Informatics.
Assessment, Coursework and Exams
Checking your Courses and Timetable
You are responsible for checking your online student record through MyEd to confirm that your course choices are accurate and up-to-date. You can view your timetable in MyEd: ‘Timetables’ can be found in the ‘Studies’ tab, under the ‘My Course’ column (on the left-hand side).
Check your online student record on MyEd
Course Changes
Requests to change your course selection should be discussed with Student Advisers in September or January.
- The deadline for Semester 1 course changes is the end of week 2 of Semester 1. If you wish to make any course changes for Semester 1, please email your Student Adviser as soon as possible, and before the end of week 2. After this date we cannot change your Semester 1 courses.
- The deadline for Semester 2 course changes is the end of week 2 of Semester 2. If you wish to make any course changes for Semester 2, please email your Student Adviser as soon as possible, and before the end of week 2. After this date we cannot change your Semester 2 courses.
Course Surveys
Each year we ask students to complete course surveys to gather information on best practice and for future improvements. Course survey results from last year are published at the following link, along with lecturer responses and actions taken. This information can be useful when making your decision on which course to take as part of your degree programme:
Course survey results and lecturer responses
Frequently Asked Questions
The best place to find details of which courses are running and available on your degree programme is through your Degree Programme Table on DRPS (Degree Regulations and Programmes of Study).
If you need more support, please email your Student Adviser. Please check your timetable as soon as you have been enrolled on your courses and check for any clashes. If you notice a clash, please get in touch so we can adjust your enrolments.
No, you will not receive an email confirmation. There’s a confirmation message when you submit the forms, but no confirmation email. Please make a note of the chosen courses for your own record before you submit the course enrolment form.
No, due to the volume of forms being processed by the Student Experience Team, no confirmation emails are issued when you have been signed up to your selected courses. We will contact you at your student email address if there are any problems with your form, so keep an eye on your inbox once you have submitted it. All course allocations should appear on your MyEd by the first week in September.
Check your record in MyEd a few days after you have submitted the form.
The sooner you get your course choices in, the sooner you will be able to see your choices in the student record and in your timetable.
It is not possible to take a course if the timetable clashes with that of your compulsory courses.
Some courses state the prerequisite abilities you need to ensure that you are able to undertake and understand the work involved. You find these in the "Other requirements" section in the course descriptor, e.g. for MLPR, which requires practical mathematical application of algebra, vectors and matrices, calculus, probability, and problem solving. You should think very carefully about taking a course for which you do not have the prerequisite abilities - you may struggle to keep up.
Taking courses outside those required and permitted by the Degree Programme Regulations for your degree is not usually possible. If you have an exceptional circumstance, please contact your Student Adviser, who can discuss this with you and advise on possible options.
Some schools have specific enrolment criteria for their courses. If you are hoping to take a course not within Informatics, you should read the course DRPS page carefully to see if you need to contact the school to request a space on the course. You can still list non-Informatics courses on your course enrolment form, but we may not be able to add you to the course until we have received confirmation from the owning school that there is a space for you.
If you are looking to change your optional courses, please email your Student Adviser listing your old and new course choices. You can request to change your course enrolments up until the end of week 2. Your Student Adviser will replace the old choices with the new one if they are able to.
'Auditing' a course is taking a course as 'class only', and therefore zero credits. There will no longer be an option to enrol students as class only starting in 2023/24. We are in the process of moving to a new virtual learning environment – Learn Ultra. The migration will be complete after the summer and under the new system, there will be ‘Course Information’ pages in Learn that can only be accessed by those who are registered on the course, and separate ‘Course Materials’ pages that can be accessed by anyone. These pages will contain enough materials to allow students to engage with courses in a similar way to if they were registered on a ‘class only’ basis. Students will still be able to engage with courses outside of those they are officially registered for under the new student support arrangements.