When does my school account close after results day?

Most UK secondary schools and sixth-form colleges close accounts 30 to 90 days after results day. The detail varies: independent schools tend to be quicker (often by end of August), state academies and sixth-form colleges sometimes hold accounts until October half-term. Ask your IT team for the specific date — most students who lose work assumed the window was longer.

Year 11 leaving for sixth form at the same school — do I lose my account?

Usually no, but it depends. If your sixth form is part of the same Microsoft 365 tenant, your account carries over with the same OneDrive and OneNote. If sixth form is a separate institution (separate tenant), you'll get a new account and lose access to the Year 7–11 one. Ask your IT team which it is, and download anyway if you can — Year 11 mocks revision is genuinely useful in Year 12.

What about my UK university account?

Many UK universities keep alumni email indefinitely but cut OneDrive, OneNote and SharePoint at graduation. The exact policy is on your university's IT services page. If you have years of essay drafts in OneDrive or research notes in OneNote, get them out before convocation week.

Is this an alternative to Mover.io?

Yes. Mover.io was the free way UK sixth-formers used to copy their school OneDrive to a personal Google Drive. Microsoft retired the self-service Mover.io workflow on 31 October 2024. mydocs.school fills the gap for OneDrive plus the OneNote class notebooks Mover never really handled.

For UK school leavers

Year 11. Year 13. University. Take your work with you.

The UK-specific guide for GCSE leavers, A-level and IB leavers, sixth-form college leavers, and graduating undergraduates. Your school OneDrive and OneNote are on a countdown clock from results day. Here's what to do.

The UK calendar

May / June — A-level, GCSE, IB exams. Your school Microsoft account is still fully active.
Early July — last day of school. Account still active. This is the cheapest moment to download.
Mid-August — A-level results, then GCSE results a week later. Accounts typically still active for now.
Late August — late October — accounts begin to be deactivated. Soft-delete grace period: 30 days. Hard delete after that.
By November / Christmas — for most schools, the previous summer's leavers can no longer recover their data.

Year 11 — finishing GCSEs

If you're moving to sixth-form college, a different school's sixth form, or an apprenticeship, your Microsoft 365 account at your Year 7–11 school is going to close. The class OneNote notebooks for every GCSE subject will go with it.

If you're staying at the same school for sixth form, ask whether the sixth form is on the same tenant. If it is, you keep your existing account; if it's a separate licence (some schools organise this way), you'll need to download first.

Either way: Year 11 mocks revision is the single most useful set of notes a Year 12 student has. Don't lose it.

Year 13 — finishing A-levels or IB

You're leaving for university, a degree apprenticeship, an apprenticeship, a gap year, or work. None of those routes uses your school's Microsoft 365 tenant.

Your A-level / IB coursework drafts, your subject OneNote class notebooks, your EPQ files, your UCAS supporting evidence — all of it sits in the school account. The OneNote class notebooks are the hardest to get out manually, and they're also the ones most students miss the most six months into university when they want to revisit how their teacher explained a particular topic.

UK universities — graduating undergraduates and postgrads

UK universities differ widely. The most common pattern is:

Alumni email kept indefinitely in a downgraded mailbox (Microsoft 365 A1 Alumni licence or similar).
OneDrive cut at convocation, typically with a 30 or 60-day grace period.
OneNote cut at the same time as OneDrive.
Teams access revoked at the end of your final term.

Russell Group institutions and the older universities tend to be more generous; post-1992 institutions sometimes cut everything sooner. Your IT services page on the university intranet has the definitive policy.

Sixth-form colleges and FE colleges

Sixth-form colleges and FE colleges (NCFE, BTEC, T-Levels) typically run their own tenants. Account deactivation follows results day on a similar timeline to schools. If you're on a BTEC or T-Level course with a substantial portfolio element, the OneDrive download is non-negotiable — universities and apprenticeship providers regularly ask for evidence of work submitted in the previous year.

Pricing for UK schools

£1.20 per leaver, per 60-day download window. Billed annually in GBP, by card or by invoice. 30-day free trial, 25 seats. UK VAT is added at checkout where applicable. See the pricing page for the seat calculator.

UK-specific compliance

UK GDPR & DPA 2018 — the school is the data controller, Muon Works Ltd is the processor. DPA available on request.
ICO-registered — Muon Works Ltd is registered with the UK Information Commissioner's Office.
Data stays in the UK — production runs on DigitalOcean's London region; data does not leave the UK during processing.
Children's data — we apply the same posture to all student data (UK GDPR Article 8 and the ICO Age Appropriate Design Code in spirit).

UK long-tail guides

Common UK questions

When does my school account close after results day?: Most UK secondary schools and sixth-form colleges close accounts 30 to 90 days after results day. The detail varies: independent schools tend to be quicker (often by end of August), state academies and sixth-form colleges sometimes hold accounts until October half-term. Ask your IT team for the specific date — most students who lose work assumed the window was longer.
Year 11 leaving for sixth form at the same school — do I lose my account?: Usually no, but it depends. If your sixth form is part of the same Microsoft 365 tenant, your account carries over with the same OneDrive and OneNote. If sixth form is a separate institution (separate tenant), you'll get a new account and lose access to the Year 7–11 one. Ask your IT team which it is, and download anyway if you can — Year 11 mocks revision is genuinely useful in Year 12.
What about my UK university account?: Many UK universities keep alumni email indefinitely but cut OneDrive, OneNote and SharePoint at graduation. The exact policy is on your university's IT services page. If you have years of essay drafts in OneDrive or research notes in OneNote, get them out before convocation week.
Is this an alternative to Mover.io?: Yes. Mover.io was the free way UK sixth-formers used to copy their school OneDrive to a personal Google Drive. Microsoft retired the self-service Mover.io workflow on 31 October 2024. mydocs.school fills the gap for OneDrive plus the OneNote class notebooks Mover never really handled.

Don't wait for results day

The week before exams ends is the right time.

Your account is still active. The Wi-Fi at school is faster than at home. Forty seconds in the library beats four hours of regret in October.