Campus Life

Heriot-Watt University SBC is situated in the town of Galashiels and is the home of our School of Textitles & Design.

The Heriot-Watt Campus is shared with Borders College, meaning there are over 1700 students studying in our brand new facilities.
The campus provides a caffeteria, bank machine, shop, bar.

Union Cafe

For a huge choice of meals; vegetarian and healthy choices as well as the staple favourites, all at low student friendly prices head to the union café. Including great coffee and fresh smoothies. 

Everyday you’ll get a new choice of main courses to pick from, as well as soup of the day, a salad bar, jacket potatoes and a wide range of sandwiches and paninis.

The Shop

The shop on campus is catered to students, so for everyone studying textiles or fashion there is a good selection of materials and art equipment to use, and they stock products recommended by the tutors so you can guarantee the quality. Everything has a low student friendly price and as its on your doorstep you don’t need to worry whether you’ve got all the right equipment for your class as you can probably get it on the day.

There are all the tasty snacks you could ever want; lots of chocolate and crisps as well as freshly made sandwiches, yoghurt and jellies. Great for grabbing something on the go!

The Library

For all your book needs and so much more, it’s definitely best to go to your induction with Peter to learn everything the library has to offer, as there is so much that will become really useful later on in your studies; such as the online resources and eBooks.

There are all the books and journals that you should need, and even more books that you can order from Riccarton campus, for light reading there are now fictional books you can borrow too.

There are a number of computer rooms and Wi-Fi for you to use with your laptop in the library, as well as around the campus.

The Scottish Borders campus computers are all on a shared network so you can access your files from any computer on site, the library sets your user name and password for this, so if you ever forget your password ask at the library desk and they’ll help sort it out.

You also get a university email address and it’s important you check your inbox regularly as you will be contacted by lecturers and the university this way.

During Term time the Library is open

08.45 - 22.00 Monday to Thursday
08.45 - 17.00 Friday
10.00 - 16.00 Saturday

Out of Term Time the Library is open

08.45 - 17.00    Monday to Friday

If you have any questions or frustrations please don’t hesitate to ask any of the library staff as they’re there to help:

General enquiries
SBCServiceDesk@hw.ac.uk
+44 (0) 1896 89 2185

Specific enquiries
SBCLibhelp@hw.ac.uk
+44 (0) 1896 89 2155

https://www.hw.ac.uk/is/library-essentials/opening-hours/sbc.htm 

Visit the Information Services website to find out more

Get to the Edinburgh campus

There’s a FREE shuttle bus that travels between the Riccarton Campus and the Scottish Borders Campus every week day, it’s such a great opportunity to pop up to Riccarton and see all the facilities up there. The bus leave Gala from the car park next to the doors of the high mill and you’ll arrive at the main entrance of Riccarton.

Currently the Shuttle bus times are:

Make sure you arrive early to avoid missing the bus and book a seat by phoning the reception on: 01896 753351

The local bus journey from Riccarton into Edinburgh city centre is about half an hour and costs £1.20 each way. It makes for a pretty cheap day out of Gala! The union up there is a great please to relax with a coffee or a beer so you should make a stop there before going home again. Also, with the nighttime events in Riccarton being so varied we will find a way (probably a bus) to cart our students back and forth for the fun and frolics!

Visit https://www.hw.ac.uk/student-life/campus-life/borders/getting-around.htm for further information. 

Find your way around

https://www.hw.ac.uk/documents/sbc-campus-map.pdf 

Community and Societies

Here at the Scottish Borders campus there’s only around 600 Heriot Watt students, so we have a small friendly community.

Joining a society is a great way to become involved in the student life and get the most out of your experiences here. It’s so important to have fun while at uni, and to unwind after a stressful day of work, and there’s no better way than joining with fellow students and organising events, campaigning for what you believe in or fundraising for a cause close to your heart.

We usually have:

• Magazine Society
• Dance Society
• New Designers
• Christian Union
• Third Year Fashion show
• LGBT

We are keen for anyone to start a society so if you think you have a good idea that the SBC students would like come into the office and have a chat about it or send us an e-mail: union.vpsbc@hw.ac.uk 

Check out the University's site for more information on SBC  https://www.hw.ac.uk/student-life/campus-life/scottish-borders.htm