How to Choose a Secure Password

132 7th April 2025

Creating your Password

A password is often your first and only means of protecting your account from unauthorised access. It is therefore important that you set yourself a secure password to help protect your Barton account. While a secure password does not (and will never) 100% guarantee the security of your account the following guidance should help you to take reasonable steps to protect your account.

Minimum Password Requirements

The college requires that all passwords meet the minimum requirements:

  • Length: At least 12 characters.
  • Complexity: Must include a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters or symbols
  • Personal Information: Do not include personal information such as names, usernames, birthdates, or addresses, as hackers often try to exploit such details. 
  • Uniqueness: Avoid using common words or commonly used sequences of characters. e.g.ABC or 123.
  • Repetition: Must not repeat any character sequentially more than 3 times, e.g. AAA, 555
  • Reusing: Do not reuse passwords across multiple accounts and one that has been used previously for this account. 
  • Recording: Never written down or shared with anyone else.

Recommended Password Requirements

However, to make your password even more secure it is recommended that you:

  • Length: 16 characters or more  
  • Passphrase: Use a passphrase instead of a password. A passphrase is a combination of multiple words that are easy to remember but difficult for others to guess. For example, “CorrectHorseB@tteryStap1e” is a strong passphrase. National Cyber Security Centre’s advice by combining three random words that are personally meaningful to you. This approach makes it both memorable and secure. As an example, “Hippo!PizzaRocket1” is a good, strong password.
  • Unique for each site: Each password uses the same base pattern but has a unique number at the end, making them different for each website. E.g. Gmail: Hippo!PizzaRocket1.gmail, Facebook: Hippo!PizzaRocket1.fbook, Instagram: Hippo!PizzaRocket1.insta
  • Regular Updates: Change passwords regularly, preferably every three to six months.
  • Password Vault Tools: We suggest using a secure Password Vault tool to keep your passwords safe. Such as 1Password

Resetting your Password

You can reset/change your password at anytime using our Self-Service Password Reset tool:

  1. In your web browser, go to my.barton.ac.uk and go to change password under Quick Links or click here.
  2. Sign in with your College email address and enter the characters in the picture or audio then hit ‘Next’.
  3. You will now have a choice of contact method to use for verification as shown below:
  4. Choose your preferred method and enter the verification code given. 
  5. After entering the code, and clicking ‘Next’, you will need to enter a new password and again for confirmation. Please refer to the minimum and recommended requirements when entering in your new password.
  6. Once changed, this will automatically change your password for WIFI access, Focus, Studio and Google Workspace Apps (Gmail, Classroom) ect.

Please note: It will email your personal email address or mobile number that we have on record for you. If either of these have been changed, please contact studentservices@barton.ac.uk and helpdesk@barton.ac.uk so we can update these for you.

Forgotten Password

If you have forgotten your password, you can use our Self-Service Password Reset tool:

  1. Click this link here
  2. Sign in with your College email address and enter the characters in the picture or audio then hit ‘Next’.
  3. You will now have a choice of contact method to use for verification as shown below
  4. Choose your preferred method and enter the verification code given. 
  5. After entering the code, and clicking ‘Next’, you will need to enter a new password and again for confirmation. Please refer to the minimum and recommended requirements when entering in your new password.
  6. Once changed, this will automatically change your password for WIFI access, Focus, Studio and Google Workspace Apps (Gmail, Classroom) ect.

Please note: It will email your personal email address or mobile number that we have on record for you. If either of these have been changed, please contact studentservices@barton.ac.uk and helpdesk@barton.ac.uk so we can update these for you.

Further Advice

  • Don’t use your College username/email and password as login details for other accounts. This is to limit access to systems and exposure if your College account is compromised.
  • Passwords for protected email attachments must never be sent in the same email as the attachment. 
  • If you are struggling to think of a good, secure password, 1Password.com also provides a free password generator – Strong Password Generator | Best Password Strength | 1Password – if you select the Memorable Password option from the drop down menu, this will generate 4 random words (you can also increase this value it you wish) which you may want to use as your password
  • Phishing Scams: Be cautious of phishing attempts that aim to trick you into revealing your password. Always verify the authenticity of websites or emails requesting your login credentials.
  • Password Strength: Use a tool such as PasswordMonster.com to check how complex and difficult to crack your password is.