Our community

Our values-led approach places our staff, students and alumni at the core of everything we do.

The University works closely with the global student representative bodies to create an inspiring and supportive environment where students from diverse backgrounds are able to study, learn and develop together, and to realise their ambitions.

Student members are represented at the Court (the University’s governing body), the Senate and key committees of the University, contributing to policy making and governance oversight. The Student Union in Scotland; the Student Council in Dubai, and the Student Association in Malaysia work with the University to develop a Student Partnership Agreement each year, together agreeing on student experience-related priorities and actions for the year ahead.

The Global Student Liaison Committee, a committee of the Court, oversees and provides assurance to the Court on the arrangements that the University has in place to support the full engagement and representation of our students and the quality of the student experience.

The University has a long history of social inclusion, whilst being committed to a rigorous selection process based on competitive merit. The University continues to make progress towards being socially inclusive: in recent years achieving increases in the number of entrants from the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Scotland, Dubai and Malaysia. We maintain close engagement with schools and maintain articulation arrangements with colleges in the UK.

We support educational programmes in refugee camps and disadvantaged groups in Africa. Working in close collaboration with our international offices we develop and foster recruitment activity and collaborative agreements in many countries, with a focus on China and India.

Our stakeholders

Driven by purpose, measured by impact, at Heriot-Watt University we annually host our Annual Stakeholder Meetings to cover key achievements from the past year, updates on our strategy, and Heriot-Watt’s wider impact across research, sustainability, global campuses, and student experience. Watch our most recent videos below from 2024 and 2025.