Once your student record is set up, you’ll get an email from us to confirm your 糖心Vlog IT account (@essex.ac.uk) is ready for collection. This will be approximately six weeks before your course starts. Complete this step 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 糖心Vlog IT account up, you’ll need your Personal Record Identifier (PRID) and your passphrase. These are the same details as you used in the My 糖心Vlog applicant portal.
As a new student you'll need to complete Online Pre-Registration before your course starts.
Once in the portal, you'll be asked to complete key steps in the Pre-Registration area. We’ll ask you to provide a photo for your University ID card (known as a Registration Card), as well details on where you’ll be staying during term time and emergency contact details. These are all essential in enabling us to get your Student Record setup.
It's essential 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.
One of the compulsory steps of registration is ensuring 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, make sure you have submitted any required application forms, evidence or returned any required agreements to them. Your funding should then be in place ready for you to complete registration.
We are notified if you are receiving funding when you enter the 'Fees' section of our Online Registration system. 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 once you are registered and should your circumstances change, and any funding application is rejected at a later date for example, 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 this to clear before the start of term. Further information can be found on our how to pay your fees page.
You can also pay your tuition fees in our using our Webpay system to make credit or debit card payments. Or our Flywire system to make a tracked bank transfer.
After completing Online Pre-Registration and paying your tuition fees, you’ll need to attend an In-Person Registration appointment. You’ll need to complete this step after you arrive on campus and before you attend 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).
Depending on the time of year and location you are registering, you may need to pre-book an appointment to see us. You can find out how to pre-book an appointment in the information below for the term you're starting your course.
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 the 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 (.pdf) 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.
Online Pre-Registration for the Autumn Term 2025 opens Tuesday 2 September 2025.
Term starts Thursday 2 October 2025.
Online Pre-Registration for courses starting in October 2025 opens 2 September 2025.
Please note some courses may have earlier start dates, but you will be advised by your department where this is the case.
Don't forget to complete your Online Pre-Registration before you arrive. The Registration Hubs on our Colchester and Southend Campuses are open during Welcome Week to enable you to complete your In-Person Registration appointment.
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.
Details of where and when you can complete your Registration appointment are below:
We'll publish information on where and when you can attend your In-Person Registration appointment at Colchester Campus on this page soon.
We'll publish information on where and when you can attend your In-Person Registration appointment at Southend Campus on this page soon.
We'll publish information on where and when you can attend your In-Person Registration appointment at Loughton Campus on this page soon.
Term starts Thursday 2 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 Autumn Term will be published here soon.
Information on how to register for Spring Term 2026 will be available nearer the time.
Term starts Monday 12 January 2026.
Online Pre-Registration for courses starting in January 2026 opens in December 2025.
Please note some courses may have earlier start dates, but you will be advised by your department where this is the case.
Don't forget to complete your Online Pre-Registration before you arrive. The Registration Hubs on our Colchester and Southend Campuses are open during Welcome Week to enable you to complete your In-Person Registration appointment.
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.
Details of where and when you can complete your Registration appointment are below:
We'll publish information on where and when you can attend your In-Person Registration appointment at Colchester Campus on this page soon.
We'll publish information on where and when you can attend your In-Person Registration appointment at Southend Campus on this page soon.
We'll publish information on where and when you can attend your In-Person Registration appointment at Loughton Campus on this page soon.
Term starts on Monday 12 January 2026. 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 Spring Term 2026 will be published here as soon as they are available.
Term starts Monday 20 April 2026.
Online Pre-Registration for courses starting in April will be published here nearer the time.
Please note some courses may have earlier start dates, but you will be advised by your department where this is the case.
Don't forget to complete your Online Pre-Registration before you arrive. The Registration Hubs on Colchester and Southend Campuses will be open during at the start of term to enable you to complete your In-Person Registration appointment.
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.
Details of where and when you can complete your Registration appointment are below:
Student Services Hub, First Floor of the Silberrad Student Centre – You do not need to pre-book your appointment to attend this Registration Hub.
Student Services Counter, Second Floor of the Forum Building - You'll need to pre-book your appointment to attend this Registration Hub.
Term starts on Monday 20 April 2026. 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 2026 will be published here as soon as they are available.
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鈥檒l 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.
For further help and advice please contact the Student Services Hub.