Blog
Notes from leavers’ week.
Plain-English writing for students, parents and school IT teams. Why a personal copy of your school OneDrive and OneNote work matters, what changes when an account closes, and the practical things to do before you leave.
16 May 2026 · apprenticeships · applications · leavers
Apprenticeship applications — the school files you'll wish you kept
Applying for an apprenticeship is heavier on evidence than most university applications. Here's the specific school work to save and how to use it.
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16 May 2026 · onenote · class-notebooks · leavers
Class Notebooks are the part you'll miss most — here's why
Of all the workloads in your school Microsoft 365 account, OneNote class notebooks are the ones leavers most regret losing. Why they're disproportionately valuable, and why they're disproportionately hard to take with you.
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16 May 2026 · university · applications · portfolio
Coursework portfolios for university applications — what to save and how
If you're applying to university with a creative, technical or portfolio-based degree, the work you produced at school is evidence. Here's what to save, how to organise it, and how to present it.
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16 May 2026 · gdpr · subject-access · parents
GDPR subject access requests and your child's school account — a parent's guide
What a Subject Access Request can and can't get you from your child's school, what's a different process entirely, and how to actually retrieve your child's school work if it matters.
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16 May 2026 · gdpr · subject-access · retention
How long do schools keep your data after you graduate — and what you can ask for
Schools and universities hold student data under retention schedules that vary by record type and jurisdiction. What's kept, for how long, and how to ask for what's yours.
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16 May 2026 · onenote · mac · file-types
How to open a .one file on Mac after you leave school
You exported your school OneNote and you've got a folder of .one files. Here's how to open them on a Mac without paying for Office, three different ways.
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16 May 2026 · onenote · class-notebooks · explainer
Personal OneNote vs Class Notebook vs Staff Notebook — explained
Microsoft 365 schools have three kinds of OneNote notebook, each with different ownership, sharing model, and export path. Here's how to tell them apart and what to do about each.
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16 May 2026 · leavers · checklist · archive
The complete school-leaver data checklist
A printable, jurisdiction-neutral checklist for school leavers preparing to download and archive their school Microsoft 365 work before their account closes.
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16 May 2026 · it-admins · policy · offboarding
For IT teams — the school-leaver offboarding policy template
A starter offboarding policy for school IT teams covering M365 account closure, data retention, leaver self-service export, and the soft-delete window. Edit and adopt.
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16 May 2026 · leavers · microsoft-365 · account-closure
What happens to your school Microsoft 365 account after you leave
The lifecycle of a school Microsoft 365 account from your last day to permanent deletion — typical timelines, what survives, what doesn't, and what to do about it.
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16 May 2026 · mover · history · leavers
Why Mover.io leaving was such a big deal for sixth-formers
Microsoft retired Mover.io for individuals on 31 October 2024. For school leavers, it was the end of a quiet but useful piece of infrastructure. Here's why it mattered and what changed.
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16 May 2026 · uk · year-11 · year-13
Year 11 vs Year 13 leavers — what's different about your school account
The leaver workflow differs in subtle but consequential ways between Year 11 leavers (some staying for sixth form, some moving on) and Year 13 leavers (all moving on). Here's the practical guide.
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1 May 2026 · leavers · onedrive · onenote
Why Year 11 and Year 13 students should download their school files before they leave
Your school Microsoft 365 account is on a timer — and most students don’t realise until it’s too late. A practical case for downloading your OneDrive and OneNote work this term, with the specific things you’ll wish you’d kept.
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22 April 2026 · portfolio · ucas · apprenticeships
How to prepare a coursework portfolio for university or apprenticeship applications
Whether you’re applying to art school, an engineering apprenticeship, or a competitive university course, a tidy portfolio of your own GCSE and A-level work can be the thing that lands the offer. Here’s how to assemble one before your school account closes.
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12 April 2026 · microsoft-365 · leavers · data-portability
A school leaver’s guide to Microsoft 365 data: what leaves with you and what doesn’t
Email, OneDrive, OneNote, Teams, Forms, calendars, contacts. Some of it can come along when your school account closes; some of it can’t. Here’s the audit and the practical workflow for each category.
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