The Scotland's People Centre gives you dedicated space to carry out your research. You’ll be able to access and view all our digitised records and indexes, including modern day records.
You need to book a seat online before your visit. We cannot make bookings or take payments in-person.
Prices
Book a seat for £15.00 a day.
This will reserve your desk for the whole day (between 9:00-16:00).
Search room bookings are non-refundable but can be moved to another date. We require a minimum of 24 hours working day notice. Contact us if you’d like to change your booking.
Opening hours
We're open 9:00 - 16:00, Monday to Friday apart from public holidays.
Where to find us
National Records of Scotland
HM General Register House
2 Princes Street
Edinburgh
EH1 3YY
Before your visit
You can watch our video to learn about what you can do at the Scotland's People centre.
Additional needs
If you need assistance in the event of an emergency, get in touch with us before your visit.
If you’re bringing a carer with you, please book seat R40.
What you can bring
Visitors can bring their own laptops to take notes and save copies of historical records, with pay-per-view charges applying. Small bags or backpacks are allowed in the search room. We do not permit visitors to bring in larger pieces of luggage.
Additional costs
Printing copies of historic records costs 1 credit (25p) per page.
The cost to save images to your account depends on the record. You can see costs on our charges.
Free 2-hour sessions
Scotland’s People also offer a limited number of free 2-hour search sessions to personal users. These sessions are available every second Thursday from 14:00-16:00.
Upcoming session dates:
- 29th Oct
- 12th Nov
Free 2-hour sessions cannot be booked in advance. These sessions are available to walk-in customers only from 1:45pm on the day and are allocated on a first come, first served basis.
Availability is dependent on the number of unbooked seats remaining at 1:45pm and, as a result, spaces will be limited. Customers should be aware that if all seats have been booked before 1:45pm, no free session places will be available that day.
Bookings will be monitored and the website updated where possible. However, as paid bookings can be made up until 1:45pm, we may not always be able to provide advance notice when free session places become unavailable.
Customers are entitled to one free 2-hour session per calendar month. These sessions are intended for personal research only and must not be used for commercial purposes.
If you are using a free 2-hour session, please ensure you have created a Scotland’s People account prior to your visit.
Credits purchased for the Scotland's People website cannot be used to pay for a seat in the Centre