Common questions for the start of the academic year

IT

How do I log in to BU systems?

To log in, you need your student ID number e.g. s1234567 or your BU student email address and password.

You will need to create a password. For security reasons, this needs to:  

- Be a minimum of 12 characters long (with no spaces)

- Be different to your last 12 passwords

- Include a combination of at least three of the following:

Lower case letter
Upper case letter
A single digit number (0-9)
A special character (e.g. ! @ # $ % ^ & * () = - {} [] “ ; ? , /)
Please do not use | or :

We also recommend your password doesn’t contain single words or a recognisable combination of words, letters or numbers or personal details such as your name.

You will need to reset your password every 365 days.

To set your password, you need to register for BU’s password reset tool. Once registered you can reset your password by selecting the 'forgotten password' option. For more information please also check the Multi-Factor Authentication and Self-Service Password Reset FAQs.

How do I install Microsoft Office 365?

As a current BU student, you can download Office 365 for free on up to five devices.

How to download Office 365:
• Head to office.com and log in with your BU username and password
• Click Install Office near the top right-hand corner
• Follow the on-screen instructions until Office is installed. Once downloaded, you can run Office on up to five computers (PC or Mac).

Before downloading, you may need to remove previous versions of Office, as errors could occur during installation. If you experience errors, please remove all versions of Office through the ‘Programs and Features’ control panel.

You can also download Microsoft Office for personal devices such as mobile phones and tablets. Just visit the App Store (Apple) or Google Play Store (Android) on your device to download.

Please note: Office 365 is only free for the duration of your course. Once you have graduated, or if you leave BU early, you will need to purchase a subscription for Office 365 to continue using these services. Please consider this before removing any previous office versions you currently use, as any data stored on other versions will be lost.

How do I set up Multi-Factor Authentication and Self-Service Password Reset?

How do I access Brightspace, myHub, email or Wi-Fi?

Timetables and rooms

When will my timetable be available and how do I access it?

When will my timetable be available and how do I access it?

BU timetables will start to be released from Monday 2 September. Please look in Brightspace for details of when timetables will be available for your faculty, as they are not all released on the same day. You can find your timetable under the 'Useful Links' tab on Brightspace. Please note, if you will be choosing your optional units during induction week, your full timetable will not yet be available.

You will need to have completed registration and enrolment to view your timetable. For further information visit the your timetable and calendar page.

How do I find a room on campus?

Your timetable will tell you where you need to be for each taught session.

Room numbers: Our rooms are numbered by building, floor and room number e.g. C114 = Christchurch House, 1st Floor, room 14; EBC302 = Executive Business Centre, 3rd Floor, room 2.

Buildings are described as follows:

BGB = Bournemouth Gateway Building (Lansdowne Campus)

CH = Christchurch House (Talbot Campus)

DH = Dorset House (Talbot Campus)

EBC = Executive Business Centre (Lansdowne Campus)

F = Fusion Building (Talbot Campus)

PG = Poole Gateway Building (Talbot Campus)

PH = Poole House (Talbot Campus)

SC = Student Centre (Talbot Campus)

SH = Studland House (Lansdowne Campus)

SMCL = Sir Michael Cobham Library (Talbot Campus)

TA = Tolpuddle Annexes (Talbot Campus)

WH = Weymouth House (Talbot Campus)

BLEND: You may find this in your timetable under the room number. This refers to something you need to do online and not an actual room. 

Check the getting around campus page for a full list of buildings.

If you are based at our Yeovil Campus, room numbers start with UG, e.g. UG10.

If you are based at our Portsmouth Campus, room numbers start with LV, e.g. LV1

Can I download a map of the Talbot and Lansdowne campuses?

Term dates

How do I know when term starts and finishes?

Fees and funding

When will I receive my maintenance loan?

I am repeating a year of study - can I still get funding? 

As an undergraduate student, you are normally entitled to funding for the standard length of your course plus one extra year. If you need to repeat a year of your course, you can still apply for full-time student finance funding. Do not apply for part-time funding, even if you're taking fewer modules than usual, as you are not eligible for this.

However, if you repeat a year of your course more than once or you’ve previously studied on a higher education course and received funding in the past, you may have used your extra year of funding already. This means that you will not be entitled to receive a tuition fee loan for your repeat year (unless you have compelling personal circumstances, such as serious illness) and will have to pay your own tuition fee. For more advice, you can contact Student Finance on 0300 100 0607.

Postgraduate student finance is a fixed award, regardless of how many years of study you undertake. Therefore, you won’t receive any further funding if you extend your course. You can still apply for additional financial support through BU. For more advice, you can contact Student Finance on 0300 100 0031 or contact AskBU.

When will my money be loaded onto my bursary/scholarship card?

Funds are uploaded onto the bursary/scholarship prepaid cards on a monthly basis over nine months, from October to June. 

The credit is uploaded on the first working Monday of each month, but it can take until Wednesday of that week for the funds to show in your account. If you receive your prepaid card after the date that the first instalment is uploaded, you may receive the payment later.  

You can find further information regarding scholarship and bursary eligibility on our Scholarship and bursary web pages.

To log in to your online bursary/scholarship card account, please visit www.spree-card.com/BUBSPR/Home/Login. When you first receive your card, you will need to go online at the above address to activate it. 

You will also need to notify BU to confirm receipt of the card, before your first payment can be uploaded. To confirm receipt, please log in to MyHub and tick the box to say you've received the card.

Please note: Bursary/scholarship payments are uploaded on the first working Monday of the month. This means, that if there is a bank holiday on the first Monday of a month, the payment will not be uploaded until the following Monday.

How do I pay my fees?

Documentation

International students: When can I collect my Biometric Residence Permit (BRP)?

If your BRP is being delivered to BU, you will be emailed by [email protected] once we have received and processed it. You will then be invited to book an appointment slot to collect your BRP.

You will also be able to collect processed BRPs during your face-to-face international document checking session.

If you are an international student, your enrolment will not be confirmed until you attend BU and have your documents checked at a face-to-face session on or after 23 September. You will also be able to collect your BU student ID card during this time.

How do I get a council tax exemption certificate?

How do I get a replacement student ID card?

How do I request a letter?

Services

How do I register with a doctor?

If, like most students, you spend more weeks of the year at your university address than your family's address, you need to register with a GP (doctor) near BU as soon as possible. That way, you can access health services quickly and easily while you're at BU. This is especially important if you have an ongoing health condition, particularly one that needs medicine, such as asthma, diabetes or epilepsy.

The BU Medical Centre is located at Talbot Campus, and the doctors working there will be experienced in the health needs of students. However, you can choose to register with any local GP (just enter your postcode). If you are an international student, you will have paid an immigration health surcharge as part of your visa. This entitles you to free GP appointments, so you should also register with a doctor.

The NHS website Getting Medical Care as a Student provides essential guidance.

Can I get the bus or cycle to uni?

Unibus

To travel between our Talbot and Lansdowne campuses, we have an arrangement with morebus enabling you to use specially provided Unibus services.

If you're living in student Halls you can select to have the Unibus pass with your accommodation and pay in 3 instalments. Alternatively if you prefer, you can purchase a Unibus passes for example 10 day trip or an annual pass by downloading the Unibus App. Find out more on the Unibus website.

Cycling

We encourage both students and staff to cycle to BU and there are facilities on both campuses to lock your bike. You will need your student ID card to access the cycle compounds.

There is further helpful information on our cycling webpages, where you can find out about the University bike scheme and the Bike Doctor on campus service.

Beryl Bikes, a bike share scheme servicing the Bournemouth and Poole area, also have dedicated zones at our Talbot and Lansdowne Campuses. You can find further details about the scheme on their website.

Where do I go for help and advice?

If you have a question which we haven’t answered above, take a look at our full range of frequently asked questions.

Registration & enrolment

Complete the following steps to become an official BU student. These are vital to ensure you can access all of your BU learning resources and receive any student funding or visas you’re entitled to.

Getting here

Find guidance on getting to Bournemouth from any of the London airports, as well as campus maps and building addresses for your GPS.

What to bring

Your guide to the essential items to bring when starting your course