University application to Scottish universities as an English applicant

I would like to apply to either the university of St Andrews or the University of Edinburgh to study biological sciences (required grades are AAB with biology and chemistry and my grades are A* chemistry A biology and A* geography) but my advisor at school has suggested that I would not get accepted because I am an English applicant and these universities tend to favour Scottish applicants. Should I follow his advice and not apply or should I apply to one of these anyway?

(edited 2 months ago)

Reply 1

manpan1

4

Original post by Am245

I would like to apply to either the university of St Andrews or the University of Edinburgh to study biological sciences (required grades are AAB with biology and chemistry and my grades are A* chemistry A biology and A* geography) but my advisor at school has suggested that I would not get accepted because I am an English applicant and these universities tend to favour Scottish applicants. Should I follow his advice and not apply or should I apply to one of these anyway?

Hi this hasn't been our experience.

If you search under the admissions statistics for Edinburgh uni, it shows you how many applications they processed for each degree programme and how many places were offered and accepted, split into the following 3 applicant groups:

•

Scottish Students

•

RUK & Ireland, and

•

Overseas students

https://student-recruitment.ed.ac.uk/admissions-advice/admissions-statistics

Check on your subject and look at both the Scottish applicant stats as well as RUK etc.
In 2024, 57% of RUK / I students were offered a place for biological sciences. 69% of Scottish fee applicants were offered a place (lower in 2023 at 64%). That sounds like a big difference but in numerical terms, it was 428 offers for Scottish students and 493 offers for RUK/I students. So more places were offered to RUK/I students last year.

Edinburgh uni is really transparent about this sort of thing and our daughter found this really useful in choosing her options because she only wanted Edinburgh uni so wanted to make sure she included some degree programmes which were likely to be offered.

Good luck and don't let your school advisor put you off.

Reply 2

Mrsfeather72

1

Original post by Am245

I would like to apply to either the university of St Andrews or the University of Edinburgh to study biological sciences (required grades are AAB with biology and chemistry and my grades are A* chemistry A biology and A* geography) but my advisor at school has suggested that I would not get accepted because I am an English applicant and these universities tend to favour Scottish applicants. Should I follow his advice and not apply or should I apply to one of these anyway?

Hi - my daughter's teachers tried to put her off applying to Scottish universities for Astrophysics as not only she is English but also at an independent school which they felt were two big stumbling blocks. However my daughter was adamant she wanted to try for Edinburgh and St Andrews as she fell in love with both places - course and location . She also applied for Birmingham, Bath and Cardiff. Much to teachers amazement my daughter received an offer from Edinburgh very quickly. I think your personal statement is key - not just high grade predictions but really illustrating why you want to do biological sciences. We haven't heard from St A - they are famous for responding very late in the cycle! Good luck

Reply 3

Anonymous #1

I'm an English student and was told that Edinburgh was very competitive and hard to get in and I had no chance. On the basis that it was just one choice and I had 4 more I applied and received an offer😁

Reply 4

Anonymous #2

It’s actually the opposite imo - they don’t seem to be offering to many Scottish students

University application to Scottish universities as an English applicant

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