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:

Degree Programmes and Courses

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.  A convenient way of finding all Informatics courses (including their acronyms) is the full sortable list of Informatics courses, where you will also find a summary weightings of assessment between examinations and course work.  A more detailed overview of assessment in the School of Informatics including coursework, exams and feedback is also available.

Full list of Informatics Courses

Assessment: Coursework, exams & feedback

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.

Course Timetable Browser Tool

The University Timetabling Unit has more information on student timetables, including how to change your tutorial group:

Student Timetables

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 Choice Information Session – 25th August, 10:00.  This is an online information and Q&A session and you will receive an email invitation from your Student Adviser. 
  • Individual Advice – if you have further questions after attending the Course Choice Information Session you can contact your Student Adviser with administrative or practical queries regarding course selection, or your Cohort Lead with any academic questions, for example regarding course content. 

Course Selection Forms

  • Your Student Adviser will send your programme-specific Course Selection Form to your University email account in advance of Welcome Week.
  • 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 Course Delivery Information section of the course descriptor.
  • If your course has exams, you should check whether the exams will be held in the December or May examination diet.  This information can also be found in the Course Delivery Information section of the course descriptor.  It is essential that you plan to be in Edinburgh for your exam(s).
  • The Course Selection 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.
  • You may request to change your courses after you submit your course selection form – please email your Student Adviser.
  • 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.

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). Please take action to regularly check your record throughout your studies, you will be prompted to do so when your marks are provisionally published.

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

 

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