The UK Access Management Federation for Education and Research enables secure access using the same username and password to all external services supporting it; in many cases, but not all, the username and password is the same as for local services at your institution. If you have difficulty accessing the service you wish to use, check your local login procedures with your institution's library or computing staff.
JISC is currently supporting wider rollout of federated access across HE and FE, while Becta is doing the same in the schools sector. Over time, federated access is expected to become the norm for JISC Information Environment services.