New undergraduate and taught postgraduate students entering the university this
autumn are the first to benefit from a new email for life service,
hosted for the University by Google. This will continue to operate
even after they complete their courses, so they can use their Bristol
email for life addresses when applying for jobs.

Existing students still receive their email on the old system, but there will
be an option for them to migrate to Google later in the academic year.
The University portal, MyBristol, displays email for both existing students
on the old system, and new students on email for life, so it's an easy way
to get at your email if not sure which system you are on.

Full news item at: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/it-services/news/2011/newemail30sep.html