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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:
- confirm personal details and trusted contacts.
- upload a photo and valid identity document (ID).
- confirm details of your study programme.
- Arrange fee payments.
- Accept academic and financial terms and conditions. Agree data protection statements and confirm your membership with the Students Union.
If applicable, upload visa documents confirming your right to study in the UK.
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:
- hold an unconditional firm offer,
- have completed any statutory checks required for your course, and
- if applicable, received your Confirmation of Acceptance (CAS) from UCL.
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) and a photo for your ID card
Follow the instructions in the pre-enrolment task to upload your ID documents and a photo for your UCL student ID card.
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 for your ID card and you will be able to see a preview of how your card will look.
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. [link to image guidelines]
If your photo does not meet the requirements, we reserve the right to take a new one 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 10 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