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Essential activities

The checklist below shows things to do in the first few days of your programme. These are essential actions that you need to complete.

Checklists for students starting in 2021

The checklists below are relevant to students starting in 2021 only.

This page was last updated on 8 February 2021.

Please note that depending on your circumstances, some of the activities below may not be applicable to you.


All students

Move in

If you're in a UCL hall of residence, moving in will be your first step as a UCL student. More details about moving in will be sent to you by UCL Accommodation before you arrive.

International students in UCL halls may need to self-isolate upon their arrival and must make UCL aware of this. 

Read more information on the UCL Accommodation website.

Attend the Make the Most of UCL Support Services talk

We're working together with Students' Union UCL to develop a welcome talk for all our students. 'Make the Most of UCL Support Services' will introduce you to some of the key teams you need to know at UCL.

Registration for the event will be open through the Welcome to UCL app, which will re-launch in Summer 2021. 

Attend your local induction events

Depending on your programme, you may have induction or welcome events in your faculty, department and/or programme. Many of these will provide you with vital information for your course.

Staff in your department may also send you event information by email. Please contact them directly with any enquiries.

Make sure you have access to Portico

Portico should be fully available to you once you have completed pre-enrolment. It's very important to have full access to Portico, as it hosts several essential services.

You'll need your UCL user ID and password to log in (you'll have set up your password as part of pre-enrolment). 

If you have any problems accessing Portico, contact the Information Services Division (ISD) helpdesk by emailing portico-helpdesk@ucl.ac.uk or by calling +44 (0)207 679 0637.

Visit Portico

Make sure you have access to Moodle

Moodle is UCL's virtual learning environment, with a wide range of resources and online features to complement your face-to-face learning. You should check to see if your Moodle account is set up correctly.

You'll need your UCL user ID and password to log in (you'll have set up your password as part of pre-enrolment). 

If you have any problems accessing Moodle, contact the Information Services Division (ISD) helpdesk by emailing portico-helpdesk@ucl.ac.uk or by calling +44 (0)207 679 0637.

Visit Moodle.  

Make sure your contact details are up to date

It's important to keep your contact details up to date on Portico. In particular, please make sure your term-time address and next of kin details are correct.

You can update your details as often as you need to. Since we'll have some students who are unable to come onto campus and need to study remotely this September, it's more important than ever that you let us know where you'll be studying by keeping your details up to date, so we can offer the right kind of support at the right time.

You'll need your UCL user ID and password to log in (you'll have set up your password as part of pre-enrolment). 

If you have any problems accessing Portico, contact the Information Services Division (ISD) helpdesk by emailing portico-helpdesk@ucl.ac.uk or by calling +44 (0)207 679 0637.

Visit Portico

Check your UCL email account

All information from your department and central UCL teams will be sent to your UCL email account, so it's vital that you check it regularly.

You'll need your UCL user ID and password to log in (you'll have set up your password as part of pre-enrolment).

If you have any problems accessing your email, contact the Information Services Division (ISD) helpdesk by emailing portico-helpdesk@ucl.ac.uk or by calling +44 (0)207 679 0637.

Register for modules, if you haven't already done so

Having completed pre-enrolment, you should have later received an email inviting you to register for some or all of your modules. Please ensure that you have read this and have selected your modules for the coming year - there's a deadline to do so. 

Some students will have no optional modules and will not need to complete this task.

If you have any queries about module registration, please contact your department in the first instance.

If you have any problems accessing Portico, contact the Information Services Division (ISD) helpdesk by emailing portico-helpdesk@ucl.ac.uk or by calling +44 (0)207 679 0637.


International students 

Collect your Biometric Residence Permit

If you're an international student coming to the UK on a Tier 4 Student visa, you'll need to collect your Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) within your first 10 days in the UK. You should be notified when it is available for collection.

If you chose to collect your BRP at UCL during your visa application process, then you will be contacted directly by the UCL Student Immigration Advice and Compliance team with full instructions on how to collect your card. 

Find out more about Biometric Residence Permits (BRPs).

Register with the police

Some (but not all) international students coming to the UK on a Tier 4 Student visa need to register with the police - not doing so if required is a criminal offence. The border entry sticker (vignette) in your passport and correspondence from the Home Office will indicate if you need to register with the police.

Find out more about police registration, including whether or not you need to register.

Get your arrival form and/or Erasmus form signed

If you are studying at UCL as an affiliate student you may have an arrival form or Erasmus placement form that needs signing. You can get this done electronically without needing to come onto campus, by submitting an enquiry through askUCL and uploading the document you need signed as an attachment.

Access the askUCL student enquiries system (UCL login details required, set up as part of pre-enrolment).

Get your Erasmus Learning Agreement form signed

If you are studying at UCL as an affiliate student you may have an Erasmus Learning Agreement form that needs to be signed. This should be handled by your department, who may be able to sign the form electronically. Please contact your department for assistance.