Read your emails
Reading your emails on a regular basis and taking necessary actions is important to help you get prepared and to stay informed throughout your studies.
What you need to do
As you approach your start date, your School/Programme and the University will send emails initially to the email that you applied with as well as your new University email address.
Your student email will be automatically set up for you on Office 365 but you must manually set up your Multi-Factor Authentication to access it.
Set up Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
This video explains how to set up Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) using the Authenticator App and Phone number.
- Video: How to set up Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
- This video explains how to set up Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) using the Authenticator App and Phone number.
Set up multi-factor authentication
Why you need to do it
You will be using your student email throughout your studies and likely in any future employment. We will send important information to your university email account in advance of you arriving, so please check your mailbox regularly.
Your Office 365 email is the University's primary means of contact with you, it is important to access it regularly.
In addition to email, your Office 365 account gives you access to your calendar which you can see your timetable in.
Sign into your Office 365 account
Access your email on Office 365
When you do it
You will have access to your student email account once your unconditional offer has been confirmed.
For most new students, you will start receiving important emails to this account approximately four weeks prior to your programme start date.
The University is made up of several departments and you will likely receive a lot of emails from many areas from December onwards. You should prioritise reading any email from the ‘University of Edinburgh’ and from your academic area (School/Deanery/Programme) first.
We will email you to:
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Welcome you to the University community
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Highlight what you should do before you start and what you need to start thinking about for when you start
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How to make the most of Welcome Week and the first few weeks
Your School/Deanery/Programme will initially email you to:
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Invite you to your essential online induction programme of events to attend
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Introduce you to your Student Adviser
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Highlight any School-specific tasks you need to complete before starting your programme
You will also receive emails:
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Reminding you about important tasks if you have not completed them before you start
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Introductions from many support services in the University
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From EUSA (Edinburgh University Students’ Association) introducing their organisation and support available for our online student community
Next steps
Email is the primary way for us to communicate important updates, alert you to opportunities and to share news with all students, throughout your studies.
It's normal to feel overwhelmed if you're receiving a lot of emails, but familiarising yourself with Outlook managing your inbox efficiently will help you to feel more in control.
Top tips for managing your inbox:
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Regularly check your inbox, perhaps at a set time each day
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Create different folders in your inbox that you can move emails into once you've read them (e.g. create a folder for your academic emails, another for EUSA etc.)
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Make use of coloured categorisation and be consistent in the way you categorise your emails
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Flag emails based on what needs action and de-prioritise or move the information emails into other folders
Know what an authentic University of Edinburgh email looks like:
Before and around the start of semester, scammers can take opportunities to impersonate the university (and other official organisations) by sending phishing emails. These emails are often attempts to gain personal information and may convince students to send them payments for tuition or accommodation.
Some phishing emails can look very authentic but if it has been sent from outwith the University, there will be a large orange box at the start of the email that says: This email was sent to you by someone outside the University.
The University has clear processes on how to pay for tuition through MyEd, which is not open to the public and can be a trusted platform.
Learn to avoid phishing emails
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Do you need online help?
If you ever need help with IT and computing issues, please first check out the University Information Services website.