Distance, college and care-experienced students
Not everyone takes the same path to university, but we're here to support you, whatever your journey. Find out how we can help if you're coming from college, a distance learner, or are a care-experienced student.
Coming from college
University can be challenging and exciting. You'll be expected to stretch yourself both as a learner and as an individual. There may be larger class sizes and less interaction with staff than at college, and there is more emphasis on independent learning, so it might feel a little impersonal at first. This can be quite hard, especially if you are starting university in the second or third year, but you’ll soon find you meet others with common interests and settle into your new environment.
Before you come, you could:
- Follow Edinburgh Napier University on Facebook to see what’s going on
- Read up on the course you are about to start and what’s involved in the modules you’ll be taking by visiting the Edinburgh Napier University website
- Visit our Academic Skills pages to get top tips on key academic skills and sources of support while studying at university
We would encourage you to attend the induction workshops offered during Induction week, as these are full of useful information to help you settle into your course.
College Outreach
You may have met one of our College Outreach team during your time at college or when you first applied to ENU. They run a series of events and activities to help students with the transition to university study. To find out more please see here.
Academic Skills
The Academic Skills team can help you to understand how best to approach your university studies. Our advisers work with students at every level and programme of study, whatever their previous experience or aspirations.
Care-experienced learners
Edinburgh Napier University is committed to supporting students from care-experienced backgrounds. If you have previously been cared for by a local authority, whether in residential care, foster care, cared for at home or cared for by friends or relatives, and have indicated this on your UCAS form, we may have already contacted you.
If you did not indicate that you were care-experienced on your UCAS form, it's not too late to let us know. The Student Experience and Retention Advisers, Caroline Fraser and Jenny Smith, are the University's named contacts for care experienced students. You can contact them at keepontrack@napier.ac.uk.
What is a named contact?
A named contact is a member of university staff who is there to support you during your time at university. They are:
- Your go-to person if you're not sure where to go for help
- Someone who can listen and support you if you're having any difficulties
- A link to other services, helping you access things like funding, wellbeing support, or academic help
You don't need to know all the different university systems - your named contact helps you navigate everything in one place. Think of them as a friendly, consistent point of contact who understands your situation and helps you get the right support when you need it.
They can help with:
- Settling into university life
- Understanding your course or who to speak to in your School
- Wellbeing, mental health, or personal challenges
- Finding and connecting with the right support services
Remember, you can get in touch with your named contact at any time - you don't have to wait until something feels serious.
The University can support care-experienced learners in a variety of ways, including:
- Providing a named Student Funding Advisor to help you to identify ways of improving your finances and applying for the University's Care Experienced Bursary. This means that you will see the same person each time that you make contact with the Student Funding team. They will get to know you and your circumstances, avoiding the need to share your details with multiple staff.
- Providing contact with a dedicated member of staff during the admissions stage.
- Adjusting offers to study to take into account the additional barriers which individuals may have experienced.
- Providing a full-year (52-week) rental agreement option for the University's student accommodation.
We also provide financial support in the form of the University's Care Experienced Bursary.
The University’s Corporate Parenting Plan outlines the support available for applicants and students at Edinburgh Napier.
Additional information
Edinburgh Napier is a founding partner of the Hub for SUCCESS, a dedicated resource for care-experienced individuals of all ages and for professionals who offer guidance in the south-east region of Scotland.
SAAS provides a Care Experienced Student Bursary and Accommodation Grant. Unlike a student loan, this does not have to be repaid after graduation.
Distance learners
Even if you're not on campus, there are still lots of helpful resources you can make use of to assist you in your studies.
IT information
You can access all of the University’s online services including email and Moodle via My Account.
Before you start to use the online services you will need to complete the following steps:
- Set your password, register for multi-factor authentication (MFA) and the self-service password reset service – instructions for completing this process will be sent to your personal email address.
- Upload your photo to the Photo Manager to create your digital Edinburgh Napier University student card.
- Work through the Moodle module: Introduction to Computing and Library for Off Campus Students.
Further information about all our services can be found on the IT Support pages.
Library information
You can use LibrarySearch to search for books and ebooks, as well as find online journal articles and databases.
Depending on your programme, you may not visit our libraries in person. However, many of our library resources are available to you from anywhere in the world. You can access hundreds of thousands of ebooks and millions of journal articles online through our libraries.
If you are in the UK but can't visit our campuses, you can also register for our postal loans service. This allows you to request books online and we will post books to your home or workplace using Royal Mail.
Before you start, complete the Introduction to Computing and the Library for Off Campus Students. This will give you the essential information you need to get started, and will take about twenty minutes to work through.
See the Library Off Campus webpages for more information.
If you can't find what you are looking for, email us at induction@napier.ac.uk