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Pre-enrolment stages for new students

Pre-enrolment is your first stage to becoming a fully enrolled 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

You need to use the UCL Information Service Portico to begin pre-enrolment. 

During pre-enrolment, you will: 

If applicable, upload visa documents confirming your right to study in the UK.

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Initiating pre-enrolment

When pre-enrolment is available for your programme, you will receive an email titled 'Invitation to Pre-Enrol at UCL'. It will have instructions for when pre-enrolment starts for your programme. 

You will receive this email once you: 

If you have met the above conditions, we aim to invite students to pre-enrol about a month before their programme starts. Summer School and CLIE students should be invited two weeks before their start date.   

Top Tip  

Complete pre-enrolment as soon as you can. This will let the enrolment team do all the required checks. They will contact you if they need more information. 


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.  

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 an email address. 

You can find your student number on your pre-enrolment or offer of study 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 this 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. 

Step 3: Upload your identity documents (ID)

Follow the instructions in the pre-enrolment task to upload a photo of your yourself and 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. 

You must not modify the photo

The photo you upload will be used to identify you when we compare it to your uploaded ID.     

The photo for your UCL Student ID card will be taken at the point of ID card collection. 

Step 4: Upload your visa documents 

If you don’t hold a British or Irish passport, we will need to check your right to study before we can fully enrol you.  

This involves checking that you have:  

  • the correct visa documentation, and  
  • arrived in the UK.  

You can still complete pre-enrolment if you are outside the UK. 

You will need to upload your visa documents, including your UKVI decision letter to Portico. Read our Visa document guidelines to find out which documents you need to upload.  

Although you might not have all your documents at this stage, upload what you have. You can log back into Portico and upload documents as you receive them.  

Confirm if you are completing pre-enrolment outside of the UK 

The online task asks if you are completing pre-enrolment outside of the UK. If you are, enter the date you plan to or will arrive in the UK.    

Once you arrive in the UK, log back into Portico and upload your proof of arrival. For example, a date stamped vignette or boarding pass if you entered through an e-gate.  

If you upload proof of arrival for a future date, we will not be able to enrol you until you are in the UK.   

Learn how to upload documents to Portico  

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, taking up to five days during busy periods.  

You will receive an email titled 'Confirmation of Your Enrolment to UCL' after successful checks. Only then can you collect your ID card. 

You need a visa to study in the UK 

You must have uploaded all your visa documents. These include your UKVI decision letter and proof of arrival in the UK.  We cannot enrol you without it. 

Read our Visa document guidelines to find put which documents you need. 


Need help with completing pre-enrolment? 

Contact via askUCL for pre-enrolment assistance