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Pre-enrolment is your first stage of becoming a fully enrolled Summer School student. This process grants you access to your ID card and all the resources you need for your studies.
Pre-enrolment is an online task
Approximately two weeks before the start of the Summer School, you will receive an email from UCL titled 'Invitation to Pre-Enrol at UCL'. This will not come from the Summer School Office.
This email will include a Student ID number and will invite you to start the pre-enrolment process.
Please make a note of this Student ID number as you will need to use it often during your time at UCL.
The invitation to pre-enrol email will invite you to use the UCL Information Service Portico to begin pre-enrolment. It will not be possible to log in to Portico to begin pre-enrolment until you have received this email.
During pre-enrolment, you will:
confirm your personal details and trusted contacts.
upload your photo and valid identity document (ID).
confirm details of your study programme.
If applicable, upload visa documents confirming your right to study in the UK.
Complete pre-enrolment once you have received your invitation email
There are five steps to completing pre-enrolment at UCL.
Step 1: Create a UCL account
To log onto Portico, you need a UCL ID and password.
Once you have received your pre-enrolment email, you can use the My Account – New Students to create your UCL ID and password. You will need your student number and access to a mobile phone or the email address you used on your Summer School application.
You can find your student number on your pre-enrolment email.
Your UCL ID consists of 7 letters, the last few are your initials (e.g. ucaaxxx).
Keep your UCL ID and password safe. You will need these to log on to all UCL online services throughout your time at UCL. If you forget your password, you can reset it on the MyAccount page.
Step 2: Log into Portico
Log in to Portico using your UCL ID and password to start completing the pre-enrolment task.
As part of the pre-enrolment process, you will be asked to confirm your department.
Please note that the UCL Summer School and all its modules are listed under the Centre for Language and International Education (Department) and the Institute of Education (Faculty). This is correct, regardless of the subject area of the module you are taking!
Step 3: Upload your identity documents (ID)
Follow the instructions in the pre-enrolment task to upload your ID documents.
If you don’t have the required ID documents, choose 'I do not have any of the above'. Then, provide detailed information about your situation in the comments section. The enrolment team will email further guidance.
We will ask you to upload a photo of yourself which the enrolment team will compare against your ID documents. You must not modify the photo.
Your card and your student record must show your true likeness. The photo you upload will be used to identify you when we compare it to your uploaded ID.
Your photo must comply with UCL’s image guidelines.
If your photo does not meet the requirements, we will get in touch to request a new one.
Step 4: Upload your visa documents
This depends on your nationality and visa status. Expand the relevant section below to see guidance for completing pre-enrolment:
- If you are a national of an EU country, Australia, Canada, Iceland, Japan, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, or the USA and will enter the UK using the E-Gates
If you are one of the above nationalities, you will not need to apply for a Standard Visitor visa before entering the UK. You will need to enter the UK using the E-Gates and keep your boarding pass or Eurostar train ticket.
You will need to apply for an ETA in order to travel to the UK.
ETAs are digitally linked to your passport and ensure more robust security checks are carried out before you begin your journey to the UK. An ETA costs £10 and permits multiple journeys to the UK for stays of up to 6 months at a time over 2 years or until your passport expires – whichever is sooner.
Please visit the ETA government website for full and further details on making an application for an ETA.
Even though you do not need to apply for a visa, you will be asked to complete the section on visa documents when completing pre-enrolment.
To complete the visa document section of pre-enrolment before you enter the UK:
- Select the option that says you ‘have not yet obtained’ a visa from the Home Office (UKVI)
- Then, select ‘not yet applied to UKVI’
Then you should be able to progress through the task and complete pre-enrolment.
Once you arrive in the UK:
- Log in to Portico
- On the Portico home page, go to the ‘Further documentation required to complete enrolment’ section to upload documents
Upload your boarding pass or train ticket to Portico before the first day of the programme if you are able to.
- If you are a national of Barbados, Botswana, Brazil, British National (Overseas), Brunei, Chile, Hong Kong (travelling on a Hong Kong passport), Malaysia, Mauritius, Macau (travelling on a Macau passport), Mexico, or Taiwan (travelling on a passport that has a personal ID number on the bio data page of their passport)
If the above applies to you, then you do not need to apply for the Standard Visitor visa before entering the UK. You will need to get your passport stamped by a border officer when entering the UK.
You will need to apply for an ETA in order to travel to the UK.
ETAs are digitally linked to your passport and ensure more robust security checks are carried out before you begin your journey to the UK. An ETA costs £10 and permits multiple journeys to the UK for stays of up to 6 months at a time over 2 years or until your passport expires – whichever is sooner.
Please visit the ETA government website for full and further details on making an application for an ETA.
Even though you do not need to apply for a visa, you will need to complete the section on visa documents when completing pre-enrolment.
To complete the visa document section of pre-enrolment before you enter the UK:
- Select the option that says you ‘have not yet obtained’ a visa from the Home Office (UKVI)
- Then, select ‘not yet applied to UKVI’
Then you should be able to progress through the task and complete pre-enrolment.
Once you arrive in the UK:
- Log in to Portico
- On the Portico home page, go to the ‘Further documentation required to complete enrolment’ section to upload documents
- Upload a copy of your visa stamp with the entry clearance stamp
We recommend uploading your visa stamp to Portico before the first day of the programme if you are able to.
Please note, nationals of:
- Hong Kong and Macau will need a Standard Visitor for Study Purposes Visa if they are travelling with a travel document. You can only receive a border stamp when entering the UK on a Hong Kong or Macau passport.
- Taiwan do not need a visa if their passport has a personal ID number on the bio data page of their passport. If your passport does not have a personal ID number, you will need a Standard Visitor for Study Purposes Visa.
For more information please visit the UK Government website here: https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa
- If you are a visa national with a Standard Visitor for Study Purposes Visa
You can check if you require a visa to study in the UK for six months or less here: www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa
Even if you have already applied for and received your visa, you will need to select the following options to complete the visa document section when completing pre-enrolment before you enter the UK:
- Select the option that says you ‘have not yet obtained’ a visa from the Home Office (UKVI)
- Then, select ‘not yet applied to UKVI’
We recommend uploading your visa documents to Portico before the first day of the programme if you are able to.
- On the Portico home page, go to the ‘Further documentation required to complete enrolment’ section to upload documents
- Select ‘Visa’
- Select ‘Other’
- Select ‘Entry clearance stamp’
- Upload a copy of your visa with the entry clearance stamp
Then you should be able to progress through the task and complete pre-enrolment.
Once you arrive in the UK:
- Log in to Portico
- On the Portico home page, go to the ‘Further documentation required to complete enrolment’ section to upload documents
- Select ‘Visa’
- Select ‘Other’
- Select ‘Entry clearance stamp’
- Upload a copy of your visa with the entry clearance stamp
Upload your visa documents to Portico before the first day of the programme if you are able to.
- If you are a visa national and have another visa type
You may have another visa type.
If you are unsure if your visa is suitable for studying on the UCL Summer School, you can contact the UCL Student Immigration Advice team.
Even if you have already applied for and received your visa, you will need to select the following options to complete the visa document section when completing pre-enrolment before you enter the UK:
- Select the option that says you ‘have not yet obtained’ a visa from the Home Office (UKVI)
- Then, select ‘not yet applied to UKVI’
Then you should be able to progress through the task and complete pre-enrolment.
Once you arrive in the UK:
- On the Portico home page, go to the ‘Further documentation required to complete enrolment’ section to upload documents
- Select ‘Visa’
- Select ‘Other’
- Select ‘Entry clearance stamp’
- Upload a copy of your visa with the entry clearance stamp
Upload your visa documents to Portico before the first day of the programme if you are able to.
- If you are an overseas student in the UK and I have a Student Visa
To complete the visa document section of pre-enrolment:
- You will be asked: ‘Have you already obtained one of the following from the Home Office (UKVI) for your period of study?’. Select ‘Visa’
- Then, select ‘BRP Student Visa’ or ‘Electronic Student Visa’ depending on your visa type
- Then, upload these documents
Then you should be able to progress through the task and complete pre-enrolment.
Read more information about the ‘Electronic Student Visa’ including further guidance on what you will need to provide during enrolment.
Upload your visa documents to Portico before the first day of the programme if you are able to.
- If you are an EU student already studying in the UK and I have settled/pre-settled status
If you are a student who has been granted Pre-settled or Settled Status under the EU Settlement Scheme, generate a share code and upload this within the pre-enrolment task.
Guidance on generating a share code
Upload your share code to Portico before the first day of the programme if you are able to.
- If you are a UK or Irish national
You will not be asked to provide any visa documents.
Step 5: Confirmation of pre-enrolment
Once you have completed pre-enrolment, you will receive a confirmation email with the subject line ‘confirmation of your pre-enrolment at UCL.’
This confirms you have completed the first stage to becoming a fully enrolled student.
At this stage, you are not yet enrolled or eligible to collect a student ID card.
What happens next
The enrolment team will review your information. Once they have completed their checks and nothing further is required you will receive a ‘confirmation of your enrolment’ email.
Remember, the team cannot enrol you and you will not be able to collect your Student ID Card unless you have uploaded your visa documents and/or boarding pass. As soon as you arrive in the UK, please upload them to Portico.