Share this page:

Setting up your IT

You can access a range of IT services and software to support your studies, using your Canterbury Christ Church University computing account.

Within 24 hours of receiving your email invitation to register as a student, you will be sent an email titled 'Create your Canterbury Christ Church University computing account'. This email will be sent to the personal email address you used to apply to us.

The ‘Create your Canterbury Christ Church University computing account’ email contains your CCCU username and a temporary password you need to create your account. When creating your account, you need to choose a new, secure password. Your new password must be a minimum of 14 characters, but the longer and more complex the better. See our top tips for choosing your password.

If you have studied with us before, then you may already have an active computing account and may not receive the ‘Create your Canterbury Christ Church University computing account’ email. To check your account, try accessing your email inbox 24 hours after being invited to register. If you need to unlock your account or recover an existing password, please see here. If you can’t remember your previous username, please contact the i-zone with your Student ID number.

Many online services at the University are Single Sign-On (SSO), which reduces the number of times you will be asked to enter your username and password.

MyRecord is also Single Sign-On – so once you have created your computing account, you will be able to access MyRecord using your CCCU username and password instead of your applicant login (although your applicant login will still work). Find out more about logging into MyRecord whether you are an applicant, a current student or a former student.

Please note: if you already have a computing account with another public sector institution, like the NHS, government, or a school (e.g. because you are employed by them), you may find that your browser automatically defaults to your other account when you try to log into our online services. 

There are several ways to get around this, including: 

  • Opening a new ‘Incognito’ window (Chrome) or 'InPrivate' window (Edge) to access your CCCU services
  • Clearing your history/browsing data before accessing your CCCU services
  • Using one browser to access your CCCU services and a different browser for the other institution. (Although we recommend using Chrome, you should be able to access this website and our systems using other browsers, such as Firefox and Edge)

Your University email will be the main way that we contact you. Check your emails regularly to stay up to date. If you’re always on the go, why not link your emails to your phone or tablet device? Visit here for further instructions.

The University Wi-Fi network is called eduroam. You can access eduroam in all University buildings across our campuses.

You will need your student computing username (example format: username@canterbury.ac.uk) and password to connect to eduroam.

For more help with connecting to Wi-Fi click here

Once connected, you can use eduroam at other universities and libraries too!

There is Wi-Fi in all University-owned accommodation. You can stay on top of your studies and stay connected with friends and family. For most devices, eduroam is the recommended service. If you are using a games console or a smart TV, you should connect using our ResNET service.

Blackboard is your online learning hub. Your Course team will post your course information and resources on Blackboard. You can access recorded lectures, take part in online learning activities and submit assignments.

To sign in to Blackboard, you will need your student computing username and password.

Once you are registered (either fully or temporarily), you will be enrolled on the Blackboards relating to your course. This may take a day or two. Or, if you are studying part-time, it could be slightly longer as your Course team need to make sure you are enrolled on just the module Blackboards that are relevant to you.

Some Blackboards may initially appear as 'Private' (with a padlock symbol). This indicates that you are enrolled on them but your Course team has not yet made the content available.

Your Course team will open your Blackboards once everything is ready for you. This will happen at different times for different courses, but you should expect all your learning and teaching materials to be available on Blackboard by the time teaching on your modules starts.

Find out more about Blackboard here.

You can download free software (like Microsoft Office and Sophos Antivirus) onto your personal device via the CCCU App Store.

You have up to 2TB of free cloud storage with Microsoft OneDrive.

You can use OneDrive to safely store and share your files from anywhere, at any time. You can also collaborate with others and work across different devices.

We recommend that you have your own laptop computer as there will be lots of online resources, recorded lectures, and activities for you to engage with, to support your independent learning, both on and off-campus.

For most courses, a Windows laptop is recommended with an Intel i5 processor with 16GB Ram.

If your course focuses on Media, Music, Engineering etc. please contact your Course Team to discuss any special equipment or software requirements and ensure you have what you need from the start.

Make sure your device has the latest system updates, anti-virus protection and is protected with a password or PIN code.

Please note that only devices with the following operating systems can connect to the University Wi-Fi: Microsoft Windows 10 and newer, Apple Mac OS: 10.12 and newer, Linux OS: later versions supporting WPA2 Enterprise/AES encryption.

There are many PCs and Apple Macs to use on campus. For your short-term needs we also have small, lightweight laptops, called iBorrows, which have the same software as University PCs. You can find iBorrows in these locations.

If you are in financial hardship and worried about accessing essential IT equipment to support your studies, please contact our student support advisers for advice on studentsupport@canterbury.ac.uk

IT Training

If you are new to IT, please click here to learn The Basics.

Take the digital capabilities questionnaire through Jisc to reflect on your confidence across a range of online capabilities to identify where you may need some extra support or guidance that will help you study in a digital world.  

Our IT Training team offers one-to-one training and can help you prepare for the demands of university study, improve your basic IT skills, or learn about specific software for an assignment. You can book an appointment here.