Your IT account
Prior to starting your course you must set up your University computing account and email address. You can do this from any computer with an internet connection. You will be asked to provide:
- your pre-sessional student ID number (you will find this in the email correspondence from the pre-sessional admissions team)
- your family name
- your date of birth
When you set up your account you will be provided with a computing account username and you will also be asked to select a password to use with our services. It is very important to remember both your username and password, so you can access the services available.
During your time at the University you will be using various online tools and services.
On this page you will find a checklist which will help you get up and running, to enable you to study with us.
The aim of this checklist is to show you how to setup and use the tools you will need to study remotely.
As you progress through the checklist you might have difficulty with some instructions. Please be persistent and try again.
If you are still having difficulty please contact ServiceLine using one of the methods shown on the our Getting Help page:
We recommend you use either the Firefox or Google Chrome web browsers to access your course. If you are based in China, Chrome may not be available so please download Firefox using the link below:
Firefox
You can browse the following webpage for a quick introduction to the Firefox browser.
Chrome is available outside China and is recommended for non-China based students.
Every student at the University uses Blackboard to access their course materials, view online lectures, and communicate with their tutor.
Check you can use Blackboard and your course sites. Open firefox (or Chrome) and type the following link: https://Blackboard.soton.ac.uk
When asked for a username and password, you should use the login that you created during the subscribe step on the welcome page.
If you have not created a username and password, then visit Subscribe and you will need your student ID number.
To continue, please open the Induction course inside the Pre-sessional Hub within Blackboard
Step-by-step guide
Please note that this process must be carried out by the student and not by their agent or representative. It is essential that students know their username, email address, password and the answers to the security questions when they arrive at Southampton.
Once you have set up your University computing account, it is very important that you check your University email account regularly. The University will send important information to you using this email address, for example, information about your course, fees and accommodation.
To access your emails, go to SUSSED, sign in using your new username and password and then click on the 'Email' icon which is accessible from the 'Home' tab.
This step-by-step guide will take you through the process of setting up your University computing account:
- Go to https://subscribe.soton.ac.uk
- Click on 'Create your University computing account'.
- Enter your details and click on 'Next' – the system should now recognise you. If you receive an error message, check and correct your details if necessary. You will be then asked to accept the conditions shown on the screen.
- Enter the answers to the security questions (you may change the questions if you wish).
- You will be given a username. Make sure you write it down as you will need it later and it will not be displayed again.
- Choose and enter a password, and then enter it again to confirm it. This will ensure you did not make an error when typing the password. Please make sure this is a password you will remember.
- Tick the boxes to show whether you want to be included in the external online directory.
- Click on 'Next'. If no mistakes are found, you will see a message confirming your username and your university email address along with a green bar, this is confirmation that you have successfully set up your University computing account.
- Your account will become fully active within 30 minutes.