Four students walk through the Dumfries Campus
 
Going into the new academic year, we wanted to highlight some of the important steps you can take to make sure you can maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Vaccines

Make sure you're up-to-date on vaccines.
Infectious diseases such as meningitis and measles can spread easily in university and college communities. Vaccination offers the best protection against these diseases, which is why it's important to check you’re up to date with your vaccinations before returning after the summer break.
If you’ve moved to Scotland from overseas, make sure you've received the vaccinations offered for free by the NHS in Scotland. You may be able to get additional vaccines that were not available where you lived before.
You can find out more about vaccines for students on the NHS website; including which vaccines you are entitled to, how to find out which vaccines you've had before, as well as more general guidance on student health.

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle

Check out our page of information and self-help resources to support a healthy lifestyle throughout your studies, including; keeping fit, eating well, free period products across campus, local health services and more.

Bringing Products to the UK Guidance

 

Travelling outside the UK? 
Don’t risk bringing back restricted items like pork or seeds—they can carry harmful pathogens. Think before you pack and don’t bring it back! Watch EPIC & Scotland’s Plant Health Centre’s animation:

If you are travelling from outside of the UK to start university, please don’t bring any meat or meat products with you – they could carry diseases such as African swine fever.
It is illegal to bring any fresh, dried or cured pork or wild boar meat from other countries into the UK. This includes any pork or wild boar products such as sausages, bacon, meatballs, pate, ham, salami, jerky, bakwa and rougan, and products made of pork fat or wild boar fat, such as lardo and salo.
For more information visit GOV.UK

First published: 11 September 2025

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