Student Guide to the DRPS | Student Systems

An overview of how to use the DRPS and PATH tools for browsing course choices and degree pathways

What is DRPS?

DRPS stands for Degree Regulations and Programmes of Study. The DRPS is a complete online listing of the Degree Programmes offered by the University of Edinburgh and all of the Courses of study available within these Programmes. It provides a description of the content of each Degree Programme and Course, their requirements, and information on the regulations which govern the University’s academic procedures.

What is DRPS for?

All taught Degree Programmes at the University of Edinburgh, both Undergraduate (e.g. MA, BSc) and Postgraduate (e.g. MLitt, MSc), are made up of groups of Courses. Each programme requires that students complete a set amount work, of an appropriate academic standard, each year in order to progress. To help the University and its students manage these requirements, each Course is assigned a number of Credits appropriate to itsacademic level. Each year, you will be asked to choose a set number of Credits’ worth of courses from your Programme. Some of these Courses will be compulsory and others you can choose for yourself. DRPS describes the requirements of each Programme, its component Courses, and its contents; you can use it to plan your studies based on the Courses that most interest you, their Credit value, and any pre-requisites that will affect your Course selection at each Level of your Programme.

Not all Programmes offer Course Options in their first or second years, but the content of their compulsory Courses is listed in DRPS for your information.

Using the DRPS

How do I find information about a Degree Programme for the current academic year?

From the DRPS homepage, click the ‘Degree Regulations & Programmes of Study YYYY/YYYY’ link under the ‘DRPS YYYY/YYYY’ heading; for example, ‘Degree Regulations & Programmes of Study 2019/2020’. This will take you to the Index Page for the currentDRPS.

To find a specific Programme, click ‘Browse Degree Programme Tables (DPTs)’ under the ‘Degree Programmes’ heading. You can now choose a School from one of the Colleges, e.g. the ‘School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures’.

The DPT lists the Compulsory courses, Course options, pre- and co-requisites for each course within the Degree Programme, and the means of assessment at each stage.

How do I find information about a Degree Programme from a previous year?

On the DRPS homepage, scroll down to the ‘Archive’ heading. Here you will see a list of links in the format ‘Degree Regulations & Programmes of Study YYYY/YYYY’; for example, ‘Degree Regulations & Programmes of Study 2018/2019’. Click the link for the year that you wish to view. This will take you to the Index Page for that DRPS.

You will now see a list of the Programmes available within this School, divided into Undergraduate and Postgraduate Programmes. Click on the name of the Programme that you would like to see the details of, e.g. ‘Arabic (MA Hons)’ to view its DPT. The DPT lists the Compulsory courses, Course options, pre- and co-requisites for each course within the Degree Programme, and the means of assessment at each stage. You canclick on the name of a Course to view its details, while clicking the link under the ‘Course options’ heading (e.g. ‘Level 7 and 8 courses in Schedules A to Q, T and W’) will allow you to view the range of optional Courses available to you, arranged by College, School, and subject.

How do I find information about individual Courses for the current academic year?

There are multiple ways to find information about individual Courses from this page. You can browse a list of Courses organised by School, or by Subject Area, by clicking the relevant link under the ‘Courses’ heading; you can browse Courses organised by College by clicking the relevant link under the ‘Courses’ heading in the ‘Navigation’ table on the right-hand side of the page; or, you can click ‘DRPS Search’ in the upper right-hand corner of the page to access the DRPS Search page.

Clicking on one of the ‘Browse by’, or Navigation table, links will display a list of Course Schedules organised by these criteria. You can find individual courses by choosing a list of Courses, e.g. ‘Browse by School’ > ‘School of Literature, Languages and Cultures (Schedule G)’ > ‘Asian Studies’, where they are grouped by SCQF Level. You will be able to see information on who the Course is available to, which Semester(s) it runs in, and its Credit value. A Course’s full details can be viewed by clicking on its name.

How do I find information about individual Courses for a previous academic year?

From the DRPS homepage, click the ‘Degree Regulations & Programmes of Study YYYY/YYYY’ link under the ‘DRPS YYYY/YYYY’ heading; for example, ‘Degree Regulations & Programmes of Study 2018/2019’. This will take you to the Index Page for the current DRPS.

How do I view a Course timetable?

You can view a Course’s timetable using the ‘Course Timetable Browser’.

The ‘Course Timetable Browser’ is found within the DRPS for the current academic year. From the DRPS homepage, select the current DRPS, e.g. ‘Degree Regulations & Programmes of Study 2018/2019’, then choose ‘Course Timetable Browser’ from the ‘Other Information’ heading of the ‘Navigation’ table on the right-hand side of the page.

The ‘Course Timetable Browser’ allows you to search for Courses by School, Subject area, Credit level, delivery period and level of study, as well as by name or course code; your search criteria can be as specific or as general as you like. Once you have retrieved yourresults, you can choose the courses you would like to see the timetables of by clicking the ‘+’ symbol on the right-hand side of their respective buttons then clicking ‘View timetable’.

You can change the level of detail displayed in the timetable by using the buttons at the bottom of the page: ‘Open all event details’, ‘Hide week lights’, and ‘Low visibility version’.

How do I choose my Courses?

To plan and choose your courses, you can use Path.

Path is a visual course selection and programme building tool originally developed by students within the School of Mathematics and now available across other Schools. It uses information from the DRPS to help students consider their degree pathway, review Course options, understand pre-requisites and co-requisites, and generate a timetable. Student feedback about individual courses is available to view. Path updates its core course and programme information nightly. Changes made in EUCLID (and thus on DRPS) will filter through automatically to Path.

Please note that your choices will only be official once they have been approved by your School, following discussion with your Student Advisor. Your School will give you information on this process.

Path FAQ

This article was published on 2026-04-09