Undergraduates: Useful information before starting
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Accommodation
You should already have received an email asking you to apply for accommodation and a guide explaining Brasenose’s room band system, with examples of the freshers’ accommodation on offer. Please fill out the form sent by the Accommodation Manager as soon as possible so that we can collect your preferences. If you have any specific worries or questions, please let us know – that’s what we’re here for!
Once your place at Brasenose has been confirmed, you will receive an email in late August or early September telling you which room you have been allocated and asking you to firmly accept it. If you do not receive a message by Friday 10th September, please contact the Accommodation Office.
Please see the dates and events page for more information on moving into College.
Academics
In the coming weeks, you should receive a message from Holly with a welcome letter from your tutors and suggested materials to bridge the gap to university. Please look through these carefully and reach out if you have any questions. For ease, please also refer to the reading lists page linked below, which contains details for all subjects.
Finance
You will be invoiced for your tuition fees for the whole year and your battels (College accommodation charges) for Michaelmas Term when you arrive, and payment is due by Friday 15th October (Friday of 1st Week). There is nothing you need to pay before moving into college.
The University and College Finance teams have also produced a very useful guide covering all aspects of student finance. Please look through this, and feel free to get in touch if you have any further questions.
(Please note: this file is currently the 2025 entry reference guide. The Finance team are reviewing this currently and an updated version will be posted here soon.)
Library
Our delightful library is an integral part of Brasenose; it is the heart of the college, and we hope you can make the most of our library and exceptional resources during your time here.
Brasenose College Library is solely for the use of Brasenose students and is open 24/7 via fob access. Brasenose students are also encouraged to explore the wide variety of other libraries you have access to, such as Bodleian and Departmental libraries.
Everything you need to know about Brasenose Library can be found on our libguide here. We will provide more details upon induction, but you are more than welcome to email the main library email address if you wish to know more prior to arrival.
The Bodleian Library is the main university library that all students have access to and is separate from Brasenose Library. We do, however, share an online catalogue with all Bodleian, Departmental and College libraries, called SOLO. This is where you will search for books and e-resources. The Bodleian have created an excellent webinar detailing all you need to know about getting started in Oxford, which we would like you to watch prior to arrival as it is extremely helpful.
We hope you are excited to start your journey with us and we look forward to welcoming you to Brasenose Library very soon.
From our Library team
IT
The following information details the various user accounts you’ll come across at Oxford and how to set these up, as well as online university registration. Please remember that you will receive assistance on how to carry out these steps from our IT team, so please don’t worry if you get stuck. Much of the following information will be covered the Freshers’ IT induction (date TBC).
Your Single Sign-On (SSO): This is your most useful account and will, once activated, log you in to a lot of University services.
Activating your SSO
A few weeks after submitting your University card form, you will receive an email from the University with information on how to activate your Single Sign On (SSO). If you do not receive this email, you may have forgotten to register a personal email address, or you may have registered a school email address that is no longer active.If your SSO activation email has not arrived two weeks after you sent your card form in, contact the IT office via it.support@bnc.ox.ac.uk and they can send you the details needed to activate your account.If you forget the password for your SSO, you can reset it here: https://webauth.ox.ac.uk
Activating Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
Once you have activated your SSO, you will then need to set up Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). Used in conjunction with a strong account passphrase, MFA helps to secure your account against unauthorised access by requiring you to input a code, or authorise a notification on your device, before you can be logged in.
The MFA setup process is triggered the first time you try to log in to a University service with your SSO, e.g. webmail, which can be accessed via https://outlook.office.com.
Guidance on setting up MFA on your account can be found here: https://www.ox.ac.uk/students/life/it/it-support
To do this, go to www.evision.ox.ac.uk and sign in with your SSO. Then go to My Student Record and click on Register. This must be done by the end of the first week of term.
You will use this to connect to the WiFi network Eduroam. More information about Eduroam can be found below.
Once you have activated your SSO, you can log in to register.it.ox.ac.uk and selecting the option to “change/set up a Remote Access (Eduroam WiFi) account password”. When setting this account up, you will be directed to choose a different password for your Remote Access SSO (RASSO) than you have for your standard SSO.
Brasenose students can get online by joining either of two available wifi networks, or by connecting to the wired network with an ethernet cable.
Wi-Fi
Brasenose students can use two wireless networks: BrasenoseWifi & Eduroam. We recommend that you set yourself up on both networks.
Brasenose Wifi is available in Brasenose buildings i.e. the main College site and the annexes. Before arriving at Brasenose, you can retrieve your personal BrasenoseWifi key by visiting https://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/mynetwork (activated SSO required).
Detailed instructions on how to join BrasenoseWifi can be found on the college Intranet.
Eduroam is available in all Oxford University buildings and libraries, plus hospitals and other universities. You can install the Eduroam CAT tool on your devices before you arrive by following the guide here: https://www.ox.ac.uk/students/life/it/it-support (you will need to activate your SSO and RASSO before you can connect – please see above).
There is good WiFi coverage in almost all bedrooms. If you have poor WiFi coverage in your room, the IT department may be able to help – please email it.support@bnc.ox.ac.uk and include your room number.
Wired Network
Brasenose has a wired network socket in every bedroom that provides fast (1000Mb/s), secure internet access.
Detailed instructions on how to join the wired network can be found on the Intranet.
All students have a University email account which will be available once their SSO has been activated. Email addresses for Brasenose students usually follow the format firstname.lastname@bnc.ox.ac.uk.
You can access your email via the web by visiting https://outlook.office.com and logging in with your SSO; there are also guides for how to configure an email client on various devices and platforms here: https://www.ox.ac.uk/students/life/it/it-support.
As a student at Oxford, you can install Office 365 for free on up to five devices, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and more, so there is no need to purchase any productivity software before you arrive. You will be able access Office 365, including your University mailbox, once you have set up your SSO.
Office 365 comes with OneDrive, a cloud backup solution that can (and should!) be used to regularly back up your data. OneDrive has a storage capacity of 100GB per student and can be configured to synchronise changes to your files to the cloud in real-time, meaning you don’t lose your work in the event of a problem with your device. You can access your files stored on OneDrive from anywhere, if you have an internet connection.
The University is unsympathetic if you fail to hand in your dissertation or other work on time due to IT issues. Retrieving lost work on broken devices is an extremely unreliable process and usually unsuccessful, and it’s best not to have to do it in the first place. It is even worse if your device is stolen! Even just emailing important documents to yourself can help.
More information about Office 365 / OneDrive and guides to installation can be found here: https://www.ox.ac.uk/students/life/it/it-support.
There is good provision of communal printers around College, and you can print to any of these printers directly from a PC in one of the libraries, or from your own device by logging into the Brasenose WebPrint Service (active SSO required).
Following recent upgrades to the College’s printing service, we are trialling a free printing allowance of 600 pages of paper (i.e. 1200 sides of duplex, 600 simplex) per year per student, beyond which printing will then be chargeable at 15p per piece of paper used. The allowance/charging period will run from 1st August to 31st July each year and usage will be monitored.
After sending documents for printing, students must present their University card at one of the public printers to securely release their documents from the printer. Your card is also used to access features such as scanning and photocopying; please ensure you carry it with you so you can access these services when required.
Free photocopying, as well as scan to email and scan to OneDrive, are available at all public printers around College. A full guide to the printing service is available on the Brasenose Intranet once you have access to this resource (usually after activation of your SSO).
This is the service that allows you to pay for food, drinks down the bar and formal dinners once you have added credit to your University card (sometimes known as your “Bod Card”).
You will at some point before term receive an email to your University email address with your login details for Upay and instructions on how to set your password. The username for your account is your University email address.
Upay can be accessed via the web at https://www.upay.co.uk or via an app which can be downloaded via the Google Play or Apple App stores.
When logging into Upay via either the app or the website, use the username and password fields on the login page to log in using your Upay credentials that were emailed to you. There is also the option to log in using your SSO, which you can do by selecting “Single Sign On” from the Upay login screen.
Once you have logged into Upay, you will need to top up your balance to allow you to book onto events or make purchases in College by tapping your University card.
You need this to use the computers in the Bodleian libraries. The library team will explain this to you during your library induction.
IT security is a complex topic, but it is essential that everyone has a firm grasp of the best ways to safely browse the web and keep devices secure. It is something you must take responsibility for yourself as end user habits are the most important aspect of IT security.
Every device that uses the College/University network must have up to date antivirus software and the latest security patches for their operating system. Make sure you check for updates on your device(s) regularly to ensure they remain as secure as possible. All Oxford students can make use of Sophos Antivirus which is provided for free by the University for the duration of your studies, with versions available for Windows, Mac and Linux, so there is no need to spend money on antivirus software before you arrive.
Details of how to download and install Sophos on various operating systems can be found here: https://www.infosec.ox.ac.uk/endpoint
More information on other steps you can take to protect your devices can be found here: https://www.infosec.ox.ac.uk/protect-my-computer
There are many services that the university and college offer, all of which (unless indicated otherwise) use the Single Sign On to log on:
Student Self Service: You can find your enrolment certificate here as well as exam entry and results.
Self-Registration: From here you can download software you might need for your degree such as Matlab, as well as change settings for your email and reset your SSO/RASSO passwords.
Nexus Email: Access your University email account here.
TMS: Access your tuition reports.
SOLO: The Bodleian libraries website with information about almost every library in oxford. You can use this to find which libraries might have a book you are looking for as well as information about your loans.
WebPrint: Go here to print documents from any computer to any college printer.
Upay: From here you can top up your bod card balance, pay batels and book formal dinners. The username is your University email address (SSO login also available).
Canvas: Most departments use this for things such as lecture notes, tutorial sheets and timetables.
University IT Services: Go here for lots of advice, guides and more about IT at Oxford.
Student handbook
Known as the Blue Book, this outlines the key student regulations and gives more information on our welfare network, college facilities and student services. You definitely don’t need to read it all in one go – but it’s a good point of reference!
The current version is linked below, under Student Policies, Rules and Regulations. This is updated annually, and the refreshed version will be uploaded at the start of the new academic year.