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University of Essex homepage Welcome Registration
Welcome new students

New student registration

A student visiting student services

How to register

We can’t wait for you to join our University of Essex family.

Follow the steps below to officially register as a University of Essex student.

Steps to Register  Returning Students

Step 1: Set up your Essex IT account

You’ll get an email from us to confirm your Essex IT account (@essex.ac.uk) is ready for collection, once your student record is setup, this will be approximately 6 weeks before your course is due to commence.. This is a step you should complete as soon as possible as it unlocks access to your University email account, as well as a range of other systems, including our Online Pre-Registration system. 

To set your Essex IT account up, you’ll need your PRID and your passphrase. These are the same details as you used in our My Essex applicant portal. 


Get your IT account

Step 2: Complete Online Pre-Registration

As a new student you'll need to complete Online Pre-Registration before your course starts.

  • Courses starting in Autumn (joining us from September 2024) - Online Pre-Registration now open
  • Courses starting in Spring (joining us from January 2025) - Online Pre-Registration opens Monday 02 December 2024.
  • Courses starting in Summer (joining us from April 2025) - Online Pre-Registration opens Monday 31 March 2025.

 Start online Pre-Registration

Once in the portal, you'll be asked to complete key steps in the Pre-Registration area.

It is essential that you complete this as soon as possible and before you attend your In-Person Registration Appointment, as we won’t be able to confirm your registration without this.   

You should also take the time to familiarise yourself with our Registration Regulations. 

Step 3: Paying your tuition fees / Making sure your funding is in place

As one of the compulsory steps of registration, you will need to ensure the University is in receipt of the required amount for your tuition fees, before you can begin attending teaching and accessing other resources. 

If your studies are being funded by Student Finance England or another sponsor, you should make sure you have submitted any required application forms, evidence or returned any required agreements to them at the earliest opportunity. This will mean that your funding should be in place ready for you to complete registration. Where we have been notified you are receiving funding, our Online Registration system will reflect this when you enter the ‘Fees’ section. You will still be presented with the total annual fee for your course, as this will be the amount charged to any funding body, but you will not be asked to make payment of this amount in our system. It is important to note that if your circumstances change and for example any funding application is rejected at a later date, if you are registered, you will become liable for the tuition fees for your course.

If you are funding your own studies or receiving funds from a funding source that requires you to make payment to the University, you should ensure you have made arrangements to make this payment with adequate time for these to clear before the start of term. Further information can be found on our How to Pay Your Fees page.

You can also make payment of your tuition fees within our Online Pre-Registration portal, using our Webpay system to make credit or debit card payments; or our Flywire system to make a tracked bank transfer. 

Step 4: Attending your Registration Appointment

After completing Online Pre-Registration and paying your tuition fees, you’ll need to attend a Registration Appointment. You’ll need to complete this step after you arrive on campus and before you begin attending any teaching events for your course. 

We must see you in-person to be able to confirm your registration as an official student (please note the only exception to this is if you are registering on a distance learning course or a modular course, with no in-person teaching, in which case you’ll be supported with completing these steps remotely).

Dependant on the time of year and the location that you are registering at, you may need to pre-book an appointment to see us. Further information on how to pre-book an appointment can be found under your start date below.

Completing your Right to Study Check

As a new student, you’ll need to complete a Right to Study Check before you can officially register for your course. This is so we can verify your identity and ensure where required, you have the correct immigration permissions to study with us.

The Right to Study Check consists of a review of your original ID/immigration documents and where required, these will be recorded on your student record

If eligible, you will be invited to upload your ID/immigration documents via our Online Right to Study Check area in our Online Registration portal. You should try to do this as soon as possible and where possible, before you arrive on campus.

If you are not eligible to upload your documents online, we just need to see these documents at your in-person Registration Appointment. Your Right to Study Check area will provide you with information to help you prepare the documents you need to bring with you. 

At your appointment, we’ll need you to bring your ID/Immigration documents with you and these must be original/hard copy documents. 

We will not confirm your official registration as a student, until you have attended your in-person Registration Appointment and completed your Right to Study Check.

Autumn Term Registration

Key dates Autumn Registration Appointments Latest registration dates

Spring Term Registration

Key dates Spring Registration Appointments Latest registration dates

Summer Term Registration

Key dates Summer Registration Appointments Latest registration dates

Autumn Term

Registration for Autumn Term 2024 is now closed.

Information on how to register for Autumn Term 2025 will be available nearer the time.

Joining us from September

Autumn term key dates

Term starts on Thursday 02 October 2025.

Online Pre-Registration for courses starting in October 2025 opens in September 2025. 

Please note some courses may have earlier start dates, but you will be advised by your department where this is the case. 

Our Registration Hubs on Colchester and Southend Campus will be open during Welcome Week to enable you to complete your In-Person Registration Appointment.  

There are a number of ways you can prepare for the start of term, including familiarising yourself with the steps needed to complete registration for your course and ensuring these are completed at the earliest opportunity. It is particularly important to complete Online Pre-Registration and make payment of the required tuition fees before term starts and then be on campus, ready to attend your in-person registration appointment (where your registration will be confirmed) at the start of term.  

Autumn Registration Appointments

Once you've completed all the online steps in our registration process and you've arrived on campus, you'll need to attend an in-person registration appointment.

Please see details of where and when you can complete your Registration Appointment below:

Colchester Campus

We'll publish information on where and when you can attend your in-person registration appointment at Colchester Campus on this page soon. 

Southend Campus 

We'll publish information on where and when you can attend your in-person registration appointment at Southend Campus on this page soon. 

Loughton Campus

We'll publish information on where and when you can attend your in-person registration appointment at Loughton Campus on this page soon. 

Latest Autumn registration dates 

As a reminder, term starts on Thursday 02 October 2025. Where possible, please make arrangements to be able to arrive, register and begin attending classes from the start of term.

Our latest registration dates for the Summer Term will be published here soon.

Spring Term

Joining us from January

Spring term key dates

Term starts on Monday 13 January 2025.

Online Pre-Registration for courses starting in January 2024 opens on Monday 02 December.


Online Pre-Registration

Please note some courses may have earlier start dates, but you will be advised by your department where this is the case. 

Our Registration Hubs on Colchester and Southend Campus will be open during Welcome Week to enable you to complete your In-Person Registration Appointment.  

There are a number of ways you can prepare for the start of term, including familiarising yourself with the steps needed to complete registration for your course and ensuring these are completed at the earliest opportunity. It is particularly important to complete Online Pre-Registration and make payment of the required tuition fees before term starts and then be on campus, ready to attend your in-person registration appointment (where your registration will be confirmed) at the start of term. 

It is important to note that you should not attend teaching, examinations or submit work until you have completed all required steps for registration (including payment of your tuition fees). This is in line with our Regulations relating to Registration.

Where you are unable to arrive and complete registration by the latest publicised arrival date, you can let us know you would like to request to register late by completing our quick online form. Any decision taken via this process will consider the academic impact of you joining your course late. We will respond as soon as possible within 5 working days with what you need to do next and provide you with options if you will not be able to complete registration with us this term.

Spring Registration Appointments

Once you've completed all the online steps in our registration process and you've arrived on campus, you'll need to attend an in-person registration appointment.

Please see details of where and when you can complete your Registration Appointment below:

Colchester Campus

We'll publish information on where and when you can attend your in-person registration appointment at Colchester Campus on this page soon. 

Southend Campus 

We'll publish information on where and when you can attend your in-person registration appointment at Southend Campus on this page soon. 

Loughton Campus

We'll publish information on where and when you can attend your in-person registration appointment at Loughton Campus on this page soon. 

Latest Spring registration dates 

As a reminder, term starts on Monday 13 January 2025, the dates below should only be used in exceptional circumstances, where you are unable to arrive and register for your course at the start of term.

Our latest registration dates for the Spring Term will be published here soon.

Where possible, please make arrangements to be able to arrive, register and begin attending classes from the start of term.

If you are unable to do this, we will publish further information on this page soon, that will tell you what you need to do to let us know you won't be arriving on time.

Summer Term

Joining us from April

Summer term key dates 

Term starts on Tuesday 22 April 2025.

Online Pre-Registration for courses starting in January 2024 opens on Monday 31 March 2025.


Online Pre-Registration

Please note some courses may have earlier start dates, but you will be advised by your department where this is the case. 

Our Registration Hubs on Colchester and Southend Campus will be open during Welcome Week to enable you to complete your In-Person Registration Appointment.  

There are a number of ways you can prepare for the start of term, including familiarising yourself with the steps needed to complete registration for your course and ensuring these are completed at the earliest opportunity. It is particularly important to complete Online Pre-Registration and make payment of the required tuition fees before term starts and then be on campus, ready to attend your in-person registration appointment (where your registration will be confirmed) at the start of term. 

It is important to note that you should not attend teaching, examinations or submit work until you have completed all required steps for registration (including payment of your tuition fees). This is in line with our Regulations relating to Registration.

Where you are unable to arrive and complete registration by the latest publicised arrival date, you can let us know you would like to request to register late by completing our quick online form. Any decision taken via this process will consider the academic impact of you joining your course late. We will respond as soon as possible within 5 working days with what you need to do next and provide you with options if you will not be able to complete registration with us this term.

Summer Registration Appointments

Once you've completed all the online steps in our registration process and you've arrived on campus, you'll need to attend an in-person registration appointment.

Please see details of where and when you can complete your Registration Appointment below:

Colchester Campus

We'll publish information on where and when you can attend your in-person registration appointment at Colchester Campus on this page soon. 

Southend Campus 

We'll publish information on where and when you can attend your in-person registration appointment at Southend Campus on this page soon. 

Loughton Campus

We'll publish information on where and when you can attend your in-person registration appointment at Loughton Campus on this page soon. 

Latest Summer registration dates

As a reminder, term starts on Tuesday 22 April 2025, the dates below should only be used in exceptional circumstances, where you are unable to arrive and register for your course at the start of term.

Our latest registration dates for the Summer Term will be published here soon.

Where possible, please make arrangements to be able to arrive, register and begin attending classes from the start of term.

If you are unable to do this, we will publish further information on this page soon, that will tell you what you need to do to let us know you won't be arriving on time.

Returning Students

As a returning student you will need to complete Online Registration at the start of each academic year to ensure you can continue to access and teaching for the next stage of study on your course. 

You’ll also need to complete Online Registration if you are a student returning from a period of intermission.

Please note that in instances where you may have undertaken summer reassessment (i.e. in August or September), you will not normally be able to re-register for your course until your Resit Results have been published by the Board of Examiners. You may encounter an error code where you attempt to register before this. 

For further information on completing the registration process as a returning student, please visit our Returning Student Registration page. 

Also see
Arriving at Colchester Campus
Arriving at Loughton Campus
Arriving at Southend Campus
Arriving from overseas
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