New student registration

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 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. If you’ve forgotten your passphrase, you can retrieve it online.

Step 2: Complete Online Pre-Registration

Online Pre-Registration for courses starting in October 2024 opens on Tuesday 03 September 2024.

Once in the portal, you'll be asked to complete key steps in the Pre-Registration area, that will enable us to prepare your record for the start of your Essex journey.

You may also be asked to upload your ID/immigration documents via our Online Right to Study Check area. We’ve provided guidance on how to do this below.

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 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 with locked in exchange rates. 

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. 

This is because 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).

If your course starts before Wednesday 25 September 2024, your Registration Appointment will take place at one of our Student Service Hubs (location details can be found below). 

If your course starts on or after Wednesday 25 September 2024, your Registration Appointment will take place in one of our Registration Hubs (location details can be found below).  You’ll need to pre-book your appointment and will be sent a link to do this, once you’ve completed your Online Right to Study Check in our Online Registration portal.

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

Please see details of where you need to visit to complete your Registration Appointment on your Campus, below:

Colchester Campus

From Wednesday 25 September 2024, you will need to pre-book an appointment to complete registration at our Colchester Registration Hub. You’ll be sent a link to book your appointment after you have completed your Online Right to Study Check. 

• How to get to Colchester Campus

Loughton Campus

Before Friday 27 Septemeber 2024 -You can complete registration at Loughton Campus in the Student Services Hub, the Ground Floor of Hatfields House. There is no need to make an appointment.

On Friday 27 September 2024 our main registration event will take place in our Loughton Registration Hub for East 15 Acting School students. You’ll be emailed a link to pre-book your appointment for this session. 

After Friday 27 September 2024, you can complete registration at Loughton Campus in the Student Services Hub, the Ground Floor of Hatfields House. You will need to pre-book an appointment to do this. 

• How to get to Loughton Campus

Southend Campus

Before Monday 30 September 2024 - You can complete registration at the Student Services Counter, the Second Floor of the Forum. There is no need to make an appointment.

From Monday 30 September 2024, you will need to pre-book an appointment to complete registration at our Southend Registration Hub. You’ll be sent a link to book your appointment after you have completed your Online Right to Study Check.

• How to get to Southend Campus

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, please don’t worry, this means we just need to see these in-person once you arrive on campus.  Your Right to Study Check area will provide you with information to help you prepare the documents you need to bring with you. 

We've produced this guide for all students to help you determine the documents you should upload online or bring to your appointment (.pdf)

As a reminder, 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.

Key Dates

If you are starting your course this autumn, you can complete registration by following the steps below now. This year Arrivals Weekend is Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 September and Welcome Week runs from Monday 30 September to Friday 4 October with term officially beginning on Thursday 3 October 2024.

Autumn Term officially starts on Thursday 3 October 2024.

• From this date teaching will officially start for your course, with a range of lectures, seminars and labs taking place to introduce you to key course materials. 

Please note some courses may have earlier start dates, but you will be advised by your department where this is the case. Further information on term dates can be viewed on our Key Dates page.

Arrivals Weekend takes place on Saturday 28 and 29 September 2024.

• This is the main period for students who will be living in University accommodation to arrive.  We’ll have a range of staff and volunteers around to support your arrival and integration into your new campus community.  

Welcome Week takes place from Monday 30 September to Friday 4 October 2024. 

• During this week there will be a range of essential welcome and induction events that will be hosted by your academic department and other services at the University, to help you integrate into our campus communities and prepare to begin your course. You should therefore aim to arrive on campus in time to partake in these activities.
• Our Registration Hubs on Colchester and Southend Campus will be open 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.

The accepted latest registration dates are listed below:

As a reminder, term starts on Thursday 3 October 2024, so these dates should only be used in exceptional circumstances, where you are unable to arrive and register for your course at the start of term. 

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.  This ensures that we know you want to continue as a student, so can keep your student record open and allow you to retain access to University facilities and resources.

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.