Planned IT Maintenance
The DTS Networks Team is planning essential datacentre network maintenance in mid-October or early November 2026, outside of core teaching hours.
When the work is taking place, SHU IT services may experience temporary disruption. We apologise in advance for any interruption to SHU IT services.
The approved date and maintenance times will be confirmed and published in advance.
Blackboard sign in error - “The request is blocked”
When trying to sign into Blackboard using Chrome, some users are reporting an increase in login failures with the message “the request is blocked”.
This can be resolved by deleting cookies related to shu.ac.uk, via the following steps:
At the top right of your browser, select three vertical dots and then "Settings".
Select "Privacy and security" and then "Third-party cookies".
Select "See all site data and permissions".
At the top right, search for shu.ac.uk.
To the right of the site, select Delete (the bin icon).
To confirm, select Delete.
Advice for students with IT software issues
If you experience problems with Sheffield Hallam software, please contact the IT Service Desk at the time of the issue (wherever possible).
The best route to use is chat as this will allow a member of the Service Desk to remote control to the PC in use and:
- Attempt to resolve the issue
- If this isn’t possible, capture important information to allow DTS to investigate further
Investigating the issue is much more difficult when reported later on.
Any urgent queries can be directed to the Service Desk by phone on 0114 225 3333 or online chat at go.shu.ac.uk/chat. For anything else, please visit our portal at itservicedesk.shu.ac.uk. If reporting software issues via the portal please include the following information:
- date & time
- building & room
- workstation name (available from the PC icon at the top left of the desktop) or if it issue was on a personal device
- name of software
- description of the fault or issue
