Uni secrets all Edinburgh newcomers should know

So you arrived in Edinburgh, clapped your eyes upon Teviot and immediately texted all your mates back home to tell them just how much it looks like Hogwarts. But did you know about its secret alleyways? Here's the Tab guide on how to navigate DSB, DHT and CMB like a seasoned pro, even if you've only just set foot in the Auld Reekie.

First things first: terminology

The first two letters in Teviot are pronounced like the hot drink you will use to bond with your hungover flatmates. Please do not pronounce it TEH-viot unless you want to be at the end of withering looks from stressed and intolerant honours students.

The 4th floor of the library is a social hub

oh, and the 'smoking area'

If you are keen enough to enter the library in Fresher's Week, you might like to note that the 4th floor seems to be used as the favourite floor by Edinburgh's social butterflies. Don't expect silence, or to be able to go incognito once you know a few people around uni.

Everyone has a secret code

Ever wondered what Appleton Tower is really like at night? Or wanted to break into the business school after a messy night out? Well, those in the know are aware of the personal keypad code every student is issued at the beginning of first year that grants you access to most 'locked' uni buildings. You can find it somewhere on MyEd – if I told you exactly where I might get in trouble for encouraging anti-social behaviour…

There's a roof garden on top of DSB

Not a linguist, philosopher, or psychologist? Then you probably have no idea where the Dugald Stewart Building, or DSB, even is. All you need to know is that it's the shiny one opposite Teviot and it has a roof garden, that is so secret it must be reserved to our sneaky tutors and course organisers. Time to crack out those secret codes?

There's a tunnel between CMB and the Old Medical School

a face of true surprise

If you find yourself in George Square, needing to get to a lecture in the Old Medical School but unwilling to subject yourself to the elements by walking that extra five minutes round the back of Teviot, here's a secret for you. Just follow the passage through the lower floors of the Crystal McMillan Building and pop out right where you wanted.

Teviot drinks prices

pretty, but more of a tourist trap than a cheap student bar

Try to ignore reports of how cheap student union pints are in actually affordable university towns like Leeds and Newcastle, and take solace in the fact that a beer is 50p cheaper in the Sports Bar than it is in the Library Bar. If you're having a really skint week, maybe it's best to opt for a vodka lime and soda, EUSA's cheapest alcoholic drink offering.

The door at the back of New Amphion actually leads somewhere

Teviot's drinks aren't its only mystery. At the end of the food counter in New Amphion, next to the water fountain, lies a suspicious-looking door. But where does it lead? Maybe you'll have to take a look and discover the next secret for yourself….