Staying Online: IT access and support during the festive break

Icon of a computer monitor on a blue background.

During the upcoming festive period, please note that you can continue to access all essential services to support your studies.

You can make use of the following services to stay connected to campus during the winter period:  

  • VPN Service (Cisco Secure Client) – Stay connected to University resources from anywhere. Disconnect any third-party VPN before accessing University services. These VPNs may route traffic outside the UK, triggering security alerts and temporary access blocks if your login appears unusual. See the use of VPN services webpage for more information. 
  • Remote access – Introducing Splashtop: a new system designed for remote access to campus computers via any device. Please note: all computer labs reboot daily at 6am, so any unsaved data may be lost. 
  • DUO Mobile – If you are upgrading to a new smartphone or tablet, you will need to switch your DUO account over to your new device. The DUO Mobile app is linked to a specific device, not a mobile number. 

Various IT services on campus will be made temporarily unavailable over the Christmas period. 

West Park Teaching Hub will be closed from Friday 12 December to Monday 5 January. Therefore, there will be no in-person access to Digilabs and Lab computers during this time.  

In response to student feedback, computer labs will be available to access remotely over the Christmas break. The WPT008 lab machines will boot into Linux every day to give students access to the specialist GPU related software. 

Find computer availability and Remote Access for Linux labs here. 

Please note that to gain access remotely from your laptop or desktop when off campus, you will need to be connected to the VPN. Information on connecting to the VPN can be found on the VPN information webpage.  

The IT Service Desk will close on Tuesday 23 December 2025 and will re-open at 8.45am on Friday 2 January 2026.  Please note that both phone and email support will not be available or monitored during this period.   

The Student PC Clinic will be closed from Friday 12 December and will reopen on Monday 12 January 2026.