Everyone swears Edinburgh students are united by a love of the Meadows and a shared hatred of the wind. Lies.
The real tribal lines are drawn by the letters and numbers at the top of your mail. Your postcode is less an address and more a horoscope: A set of coordinates that predicts your shopping basket, nightlife stamina, and tolerance for damp stone walls.
Through a freedom of information request, we found out how many matriculated students live in each EH postcode. Want to find out if you’re unique and quirky or just like the rest? Here is what your EH postcode says about you.
EH8 – Nicholson Street and Southside
This is the postcode of constant action. It takes the crown for most popular student postcode, boasting 7,201 matriculated students. Your window overlooks bus stop arguments that double as performance art, and sirens provide a soundtrack to every evening. At four in the morning a chorus of drunk students debates philosophy below your sill. Food shopping is a frantic sprint to whichever shop is still open and your recycling bin contains an impressive array of takeaway containers.
EH9 – Marchmont
4,542 matriculated students live in this postcode, making it the second most popular location for students to live. Marchmont is either inherited privilege or last-minute panic with no middle ground. Some of you grew up in houses the size of small hotels, others arrived after a desperate August flat hunt and are still living out of suitcases. Everyone pretends they chose it for the five minute walk to the Meadows and the “proper student vibe.” Nights out are routine rather than special, and every other evening becomes a pre drink marathon that spills onto the grass until the single ‘sober’ friend gently calls time.
EH3 – New Town and Tollcross
Home of Spoons x
New Town is a trust fund in architectural form. 3,804 students live here, making it the third most popular Edinburgh destination. Your ceilings are so high you could fly a kite indoors and the rent is the sort that makes flatmates stop asking about money. Half the residents are auditioning for a BBC period drama; the other half are finance interns perfecting their Patagonia-gilet aesthetic before moving to London.
Moving South, life in Tollcross can sometimes feel like a permanent fringe festival with flyers, late night chippies and pubs that never seem to close. You probably did not intend to move in here but a lease appeared and now you cannot imagine living elsewhere. Nights blur into mornings, and the staff at Spoons, Cloisters and Bennets all greet you by name.
EH16 – Liberton and Prestonfield
The all-encompassing EH16 covers a few student hotspots – Pollock Halls, Dalkeith Road, Cameron Toll’s big Sainsbury’s, stretching to Craigmillar on the East and Liberton on the South. This one’s for the Kings Campus divas, Lothian Bus enthusiasts, and Ubers most loyal customers pre and post night out.
EH6 and 7 – Leith, Abbeyhill and Canonmills
Leith Walk residents insist that they live in the authentic Edinburgh and will remind you of this every chance they get. Only 856 students live in Leith’s main postcode (EH6), but 2,701 live in nearby Abbeyhill, Canonmills, and along Leith Walk. As much as its becoming less of a secret, it’s still underrated as a student spot. You cycle everywhere (god bless the new electric bikes), brew your own kombucha and treat traditional clubbing as a kind of anthropological study. Social life revolves around craft beer tastings, secret warehouse events and anything described as a pop-up.
EH1 – Old Town
Living in the Old Town is an endurance sport. Only 1,719 students live here and that’s probably due to the rest of the houses being turned into guest homes. The streets are permanently packed with tourists and bagpipers while the scent of the infamous alley near the Cowgate clings to your clothes no matter how often you wash them. Your reward is proximity to every club worth visiting and you can fall from Hive into bed in the time it takes most people to order a taxi.
EH11 – Gorgie and Dalry
This is the land of practical students. 1,614 students live here, a good balance of studenty but also authentic. The weekly Asda trip is a sacred ritual and you finish every night with a McDonald’s on the way home. You tell people you chose it for the transport links but the truth is the rent was just too good to ignore (for Edinburgh standards, atleast).
EH10 – Bruntsfield and Morningside
As the 3rd least inhabited postcode, EH10 punches above its weight (we all know atleast 10 people who “always wanted to live” here). It is for the student who considers the city centre an optional extra. When the rain starts you decide that campus is simply too far away and the library will survive without you. Your flat smells of expensive candles and the cupboards are always stocked because your parents visit often and bring hampers. Friends arrive to recover from hangovers and are surprised when they realise you have never actually set foot in Hive.
