Joshie Christian, VP Education
Our consultations since the All Student Vote really highlighted a longstanding issue with how little communication the student body receives before the change from a student account to an alumni email. SUSU and the University are now working to make sure that induction and offboarding cover everything students need to stay connected with UOS. One action we promised to take forward was to circulate the answers to all the questions that students asked throughout those sessions, but please send an email if you have any further queries!
Just to note, the answers given here are all based on the current situation and current information and is begin shared to answer questions raised during our alumni email consultations. After 29th August 2025, once there have been further updates, please refer to those updates instead, as information here might become outdated!
How did the existing alumni email service work?
Students who qualified after 2013 are currently given access to a dedicated email account ending in @southamptonalumni.ac.uk. Approximately 5 months post qualification* your existing email address, ending in @soton.ac.uk, would be transitioned into an address ending in @southamptonalumni.ac.uk. You can still receive emails that are addressed to your @soton.ac.uk address from your alumni address. There are some restrictions; the alumni service does not come with a OneDrive account or Sharepoint access, for example. It acts exclusively as an email address.
* Qualification – the date that you are marked as qualified on Banner. This will be somewhere between when you sit your final exam / submit your final assessment / hand in your thesis, and when you receive your final results.
What happens to your access to other services like SharePoint, Teams, and the library?
After your account transitions:
- Access to SharePoint sites, Teams, and other Office 365 apps is removed.
- You lose access to online library resources, including journals and databases, due to licensing restrictions. o However, physical access to the University Library is still available to alumni.
What happens to your existing OneDrive account after graduation?
Your OneDrive and its contents will be deleted after the transition period ends. You’ll have to back up any files you want to keep before your account transitions. This means you’ll have a few months after your graduation in which to transfer important files to another account, and there will be reminder emails sent before the deadline to make sure you don’t leave it too late!
What are the current cybersecurity risks surrounding the alumni email service?
Of the current 70,000 alumni accounts, the university thinks that less than 1% are active, and they have already had to close a further 70,000 accounts due to complete inactivity. I have been told that, of the remaining 70,000, at least 10,000 do not have the Multi-Factor Authentication which the university is still treating as a high security risk situation. They are concerned that the current alumni accounts are opening us up to a lot of cyberattacks. They are worried about:
- Phishing attacks targeting inactive or rarely monitored accounts.
- Impersonation risks if credentials are compromised.
- Maintenance of strong passwords caution with suspicious emails.
What should you do if you’ve already used your existing student/alumni email in a paper, on a CV, or elsewhere online?
Don’t worry, as using your Southampton affiliated address is the right thing to do. The university suggest you continue to use your current student email address ending in soton.ac.uk. Assuming we are successful in lobbying the university to maintain an alumni email service, you will still be able to receive email at this address once it becomes an alumni account. Research students who are publishing are also encouraged to register for an ORCiD account via PURE, as they can then update their email address in ORCiD as needed should this change.
What are visitor access accounts, how do they work currently, and why might you want to apply for one after you qualify?
A ‘visitor’ is usually someone who contributes to ongoing teaching, research, or other professional activities.
Students who continue to collaborate with the University after they have completed their studies can apply for a Visitor account. Different kinds of students might make use of this, for example our PGRs might want a visitor account to continue working on unfinished research with their supervisors. These accounts provide access to more university systems and services than just an email address. Requests for a visitor account must be made by a sponsor, such as a department manager or your academic supervisor, using the online Visitor Request. For more information, you can read point 7 in the Visitor Policy.
What are the differences between soton.ac.uk and southampton.alumni.co.uk?
@soton.ac.uk is the default email address for students and staff. This account provides full access to university systems!
@southamptonalumni.ac.uk is used by alumni and provides access to email only, without access to Office 365 suite or any other university systems.
If you send an email it is sent from username@southamptonalumni.co.uk
You can receive emails via your alumni account that have been sent to either email address.