Royal Mail

1st and 2nd Class post

Letters, large letters and small parcels can be sent via Royal Mail 1st and 2nd Class.

Delivery times

1st Class post takes 1-2 working days. 2nd Class takes 2-3 working days (Saturdays included). However, this service is not guaranteed. You should consider Special Delivery if you require guaranteed next day delivery.

Size and weight

There are size and weight restrictions on sending post via Royal Mail.   

Charge code

You must supply a charge code for all posted items. A short code can be set up if you are regularly sending post to frank. Contact our Post Room for details. 

Signed For and Special Delivery

Signed For

Sending items via Royal Mail Signed For means that the recipient has to sign to say that they have received it. This gives an extra level of security than standard 1st or 2nd Class post. Compensation of £20 is added to Signed For services.

Special Delivery

Special Delivery guarantees that an item will arrive by 1 pm the following day. Compensation of £750 is included when sending items via Special Delivery. However, you should consider whether additional compensation is required. The maximum compensation that can be added is £2,500.

Requesting Signed For or Special Delivery

Complete a Special Delivery request form (PDF, 33kB) and attach it loosely to your item. This will be registered by the Post Room. Tracking updates will be sent to you automatically. 

Regular items

Contact the Post Room if you are sending more than five items of Signed For or Special Delivery a week. Alternative options may be available.

Royal Mail collection locations

We collect Royal Mail post every weekday from various locations on the Clifton Campus:

• 1/5 Whiteladies Road
• 31 Great George Street
• 5 Tyndall Avenue (Ground Floor Reception for VC Office and 1st Floor post area)
• Augustine's Courtyard
• Beacon House
• Canynge Hall
• Oakfield House
• Physics
• Priory Road (No8 Woodland Road Centre Hub)
• Woodland Road (No7 Centre Hub).

Collections from other University addresses

You can request a Royal Mail collection from other University addresses. Collections are on specific days depending on the location:

• 1 Cathedral Square (Thursday collection only)
• 35 Berkeley Square
• 43 Woodland Road
• 8/10 Berkeley Square
• Ada Lovelace Building
• ASSL Library
• Biomedical Sciences Building
• Botanic Gardens (Monday or Wednesday collection only)
• Bristol Royal Infirmary (BRI)
• Chemistry Building
• Coombe Dingle Sports Ground
• Cotham House
• Dental School, Avon Street (Tuesday or Thursday collection only)
• Disability Services
• Dorothy Hodgkin (Tuesday or Thursday collection only)
• Fry Building
• Geography
• Hampton House
• Hiatt Baker Hall (Monday or Wednesday collection only)
• Howard House
• Life Sciences (all post for Royal Fort House)
• Merchant Venturers Building
• Queens Building
• Richmond Building
• Security Office
• Senate House
• Southmead Hospital (Monday or Wednesday collection only)
• Sports Centre
• UBU Lettings
• Vet School (Southwell Street)
• Wills Memorial Building

View collection days for each location and submit your request

If you need to post something outside the scheduled collection days, take the item to the Post Room or the nearest collection point which meets your requirements. 

International shipping

Refer to our international shipping guidance when sending items internationally. We are unable to send items internationally if they are not accompanied with the relevant customs information.