Accounts

Account Setup and Management

We want to make sure you’re all set for your time at Oxford University and the Blavatnik School of Government (BSG), so we’re here to help you get started with your accounts.

To get started activate your Oxford account. This will give you access to your Oxford email, where you’ll receive important messages related to your course.

During your time here, you’ll be using three main accounts:

Oxford Account (Email, Virtual Learning Environment, etc.)
BSG Account (Printing)
Remote Access (Used for Wi-Fi. We’ll tell you more about this when you come to set up Wi-Fi)

Activating your Oxford University SSO Account

Your Oxford SSO (Single Sign-On) account is your gateway to central University services, including email communication. Typically, your Oxford username follows the format abcd1234, where ‘abcd’ represents your college or department code. This account is managed by IT Services and is distinct from your BSG departmental accounts.
An SSO account will be automatically created for you based on the information provided in your University Card application. Alongside your University Card, your department will furnish you with an account activation letter.
To activate your SSO account and establish a secure password along with a multifactor authentication (MFA) token for login, visit https://webauth.ox.ac.uk. Click on “Activate a new account” to start activating your Oxford SSO.
You will have received an email with instructions on how to activate your email. The email will contain an activation code which you will need to activate your account.
Your Oxford username grants you access to a wide array of Oxford services, such as Nexus365 (encompassing email, VPN, Wi-Fi, calendars, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Canvas (Virtual Learning Environment)).
You can manage your Oxford account using IT Services self-registration. Nexus365 resources like email can be accessed online at https://portal.office.com. Alternatively, you can set up access through applications such as Outlook, the OneDrive sync client, and Microsoft Teams.

BSG Login

- To activate your BSG account, visit https://account.bsg.ox.ac.uk/#/SelfPasswordReset. You will use this account for the printing system within the Blavatnik School of Government.
- Once you enter your username (the same as your Oxford SSO), a verification code will be sent to your Oxford email. Return to the site and enter the verification code, which will then allow you to set a password.
- To ensure security, your BSG password must adhere to the following criteria:
  - Be a minimum of 8 characters in length
  - Not include your account name or full name
  - Contain at least three of the following groups:
    - Uppercase characters (A-Z)
    - Lowercase characters (a-z)
    - Numerals (0-9)
    - Non-alphabetic characters (e.g., !, $, #, %)
  - Be unique and not previously used.