Password guidance
Your password must meet the following requirements:
- Be at least 16 characters long.
- It cannot be a password you have previously used for your University account.
- It cannot contain your given names, such as your first name, middle name or surname.
- It cannot contain your username, such as your student or staff ID or University email address.
- There are no complexity requirements. You do not need to include a mixture of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers or special characters.
Creating a strong password
We recommend creating your password by combining three random, unrelated words. This makes it easier to create a long password that is also easier to remember.
For example:
planet-coffee-windowpurple train biscuitRiverBananaJacket
Choose words that are random and unrelated to you. Avoid well-known phrases, song lyrics, quotations or predictable combinations of words.
You can use numbers, spaces and special characters if you want to, but you do not need to add them just to make your password more complex. Password length and unpredictability are more important.
Please note, due to a limitation in Papercut, if you use a £ or $ in your password, you will be unable to sign in to the MFDs. This is beyond our control and is a limitation of the supplier.
Avoid passwords based on information that somebody could know or discover about you, such as:
- Birthdays or other significant dates
- Names of family members or pets
- Favourite sports teams
- Places that are important to you
- Information available on your social media profiles
- Common passwords such as
passwordorpassword123
The simplest approach is: choose three random words, make sure the resulting password is at least 16 characters long, and choose something unique to your University account.