University Email FAQ

Why is this happening now?

We are no longer able to extend the offer of ‘email-for-life’ for a number of reasons. We know that less than 0.1% of students make use of the account after 12 months, and as such, for reasons of security and maintenance, it is important to remove them. We are retaining this benefit for new graduates, for 18 months after they graduate, giving time for our newest graduates (of which there are over 4,000 annually) to make appropriate use of their University emails and transfer anything they might need for the future, as well as ensuring we can meet the changing demands of the security landscape. 

Has my data or account been compromised? 

There is no suggestion that data or accounts have been compromised. However, unused accounts are a known security risk to any organisation.

What is the exact date my account will close?

18 months after you complete your studies. 

Can you extend the time? 

Unfortunately, we are unable to do this as the number of inactive accounts pose a cybersecurity risk. 

Can I pay to keep my account open? 

Unfortunately, this is not an option we are able to offer.

I only signed up and provided my information to gain access to my University email account

If you would like to amend the data that we hold for you and update your contact preferences, please let us know by emailing alumni@chester.ac.uk.

If this account is closing, can I have a new alumni email account?

This account is the same account you had during your studies with us. We are one of the few Universities left in the sector still allowing access to this email after graduation, and we do not currently operate a separate alumni email account offer. If this was to change in the future, we would of course make sure this was promoted to the alumni community.

I have important emails and contacts in this account, please can you advise how I move everything to another account in time?

We acknowledge that you may have important emails, attachments and contacts in this account that you would like to keep. We suggest that you forward any emails for retention to your other email account, but please do so in good time prior to the closure date. Once accounts are closed we are not able to retrieve information from them.

I have bought software licenses that are associated with this account and will now lose the money and software. What do I do?

Please contact the vendors of any software license and have them update your email address. Usually you can do this yourself on their website.

I would like to make a complaint

We understand that you may still wish to make a complaint regarding this change. You can do so by contacting Learning and Information Services: lis.helpdesk@chester.ac.uk