Do you need to use the VPN?

Undergraduates and Taught Postgraduates

You do not need to use the VPN to access any student services (Portico, Moodle, etc). You also do not need to use the VPN to access your email, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, or any other UCL based online learning service. There may be some exceptions for students doing projects that need access to internal resources, but that is something we would advise on an individual basis.

Staff and PhD students

You only need to use the VPN when accessing IT services that are only available on site.

We recommend the use of the VPN if:

• You need to connect to a departmental Windows desktop PC
• You need to use UCL web applications that are only available on site (i.e MyFinance, etc)

The VPN makes access to these services much easier. If you are unable to use the VPN there are alternative ways to access these services, please get in touch for assistance with this.

Quick Access to UCL Internal Applications

If you are having problems with the VPN you can use remote access services in the dept, or provided by ISD, to get access to internal UCL applications. You can access our ThinLinc service to get access to a Linux desktop and use Firefox there. Alternatively you can connect to the UCL MyDesktop service, and also use a browser there to access internal UCL applications.