The address in [email protected] remains the official communication channel between the rectorate, the school management, and the staff of the academy. However, the confusion between academic messaging, ENT, and university enrollment services leads to recurring connection errors, particularly among teachers newly assigned to the Nantes academy.
Setting up an email client with your Nantes academic account
We recommend configuring a local email client rather than relying on a web interface. The username corresponds to the academic identifier, usually in the form of prenom.nom (without the domain). The password is that of the professional email, distinct from the ARENA password or the ENT e-lyco.
On iOS, the setup goes through Settings > Mail > Accounts > Add Account > Other. On Android, the procedure varies depending on the manufacturer’s overlay, but the path remains Settings > Accounts > Add Account > IMAP. A point of caution: some email applications (Samsung Email, for example) offer automatic detection that fails with academic servers. Manually entering the settings remains the most reliable method.
Those who wish to delve deeper into the interface will find a comprehensive guide on the Nantes webmail particularly useful for initial connections and file management.
Academic identifier and password: distinguishing access based on status
The email identifier is not universal. A tenured teacher, a contractual employee, an administrative staff member, and an AED do not receive their credentials through the same channel, and the rights associated with each account differ significantly.
- Tenured and trainee teachers receive their identifier via the appointment letter or the ARENA portal, section “Access Management”.
- Contractual staff obtain a temporary identifier, often provided by the school’s secretariat, with a validity period aligned with the contract.
- AEDs and AESHs depend on the local configuration of the institution: some have full academic access, while others have a simple relay to a personal address.
Password reset goes through the dedicated portal of the Nantes academy. Without access to the portal, one must contact the academic support platform, which extends the delays by several days.
End of the old Nantes webmail and continuity of the academic address
The Nantes academy has terminated its old webmail service. This change has sparked a wave of questions on teacher forums, with many believing that their academic address has been deleted. The cessation of the webmail does not delete the email address itself.
The address in @ac-nantes.fr continues to function. What changes is the web interface through which it was accessed. The rectorate now directs users to alternative solutions: an email client configured in IMAP (Thunderbird, Outlook, Mail) or a replacement webmail according to current academic directives.
In practice, teachers who had already set up a local client noticed nothing. Those who connected exclusively via the browser must reconfigure their access.
Forwarding to a personal address: a risky choice
Some staff forward their academic email to personal Gmail or Outlook accounts. This practice raises a confidentiality issue: professional exchanges regularly contain student data protected by GDPR. Forwarding to a non-sovereign service exposes one to a compliance failure.
Phishing on educational accounts: an operational risk not to be ignored
Academic accounts have become prime targets for phishing campaigns. The Ministry of National Education launched the Cactus Operation from March 19 to 21, 2025, a national awareness campaign following attacks targeting the ENT of educational institutions.
The most frequent attacks take the form of a fake email from the rectorate requesting an “urgent update” of the identifier. The URL points to a form mimicking the academic login page. The actual domain, visible in the address bar, is never ac-nantes.fr.
- Always check the sender’s domain: legitimate addresses end with @ac-nantes.fr or @education.gouv.fr.
- Never click on a link requesting a password entry from an unsolicited email.
- Report any suspicious email via the institution’s internal procedure or to the digital referent of the district.
A compromised account not only endangers its owner. It provides access to internal mailing lists, exchanges with families, and documents shared on the ENT.
Academic messaging and ENT e-lyco: two tools, two logics
The internal messaging of e-lyco is not the academic messaging. E-lyco has its own messaging system, limited to exchanges between members of the educational community of an institution. The @ac-nantes.fr mailbox, on the other hand, allows communication with any agent of the National Education.
E-lyco notifications can be forwarded to the academic address, creating another source of confusion. We recommend clearly separating the two streams by creating a dedicated folder for ENT alerts in the email client, using an automatic sorting rule based on the sender.
The academic messaging of Nantes remains a structuring professional tool despite recent technical developments. Its correct configuration, vigilance against phishing, and clear distinction from other digital services condition its serene daily use.
