Policy

SMS texting guidance for students

UWE now has in place a new SMS texting system to contact UWE students about specific matters such as lecture cancellations, room changes, module choice deadlines and emergency announcements.

The texts will be sent primarily by your faculty (and by the Student Services Department if you have sought their support). Marketing texts will not be sent using this service.

You will be texted on the mobile number which you provided at registration. This number is logged in the myUWE portal in the myDetails section. If the mobile number is incorrect, we recommend that you amend it at the earliest possible time. If you change mobile phone number at some later stage, please don’t forget to update it in the “Mobile telephone” field.

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In the myUWE portal, below your mobile number, you will see a tick box called “Accept SMS texts from UWE”. By default, this tick box will be ticked to receive text messages from UWE. If at any stage, you wish to opt-out and stop receiving texts from the University, please untick the box. In short, untick to opt-out.

Please note that some text messages are not covered by the tickbox. These include:-

    • Exceptional emergency texts: The University will not take into account your opting-out option when sending very exceptional emergency texts such as site closure.

    • Texts from Student Services: If you have a prior agreement with Student Services to contact you by text, this agreement with Student Services overrides the opting-out flag described here.

    • Texts from the UWE Student Union (UWESU). The UWE Student Union has its own text messaging service, which is entirely independent from UWE. This service may send marketing related texts. To opt-in or out of the Student Union’s texting service, please visit the UWE Students' Union website

For further information, please see the Text messaging FAQs

Important notes

    • Please note that the University will not text students with international mobile phone numbers outside of the European Economic Area (EEA). In fact, the University will refrain from texting students with international mobile phone numbers, as students may be charged for receiving the text. However, if you have an international mobile number, please do give us your number as we may use it to phone you rather than text.

    • Please note that the University reserves the right to monitor the appropriate and acceptable use of the text messaging system in accordance with the University Acceptable Use Policy, Data Protection Act and Guidance on the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003. This means that the University reserves the right to occasionally view the content of the texts. The identity of the recipients may be checked in case of inappropriate usage

    • Please ensure that you do not use your mobile phone during lectures and switch the mobile device to meeting/silent mode.

Comments about SMS texting at UWE can be sent to the IT Support Centre.