Thunderbird works just fine with Exchange servers, as long as the server supports SMTP. If the setup wizard fails to detect the correct server settings (which is quite likely for a corporate mail server), use Manual Setup instead.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/manual-account-configuration

If the account has already been created, you can manually configure the SMTP server. If this is a corporate server, check with your IT folks for the correct server settings. Otherwise contact your email provider.

Thanks. In fact my question is more about Thunderbird supporting Exchange server rather than using imap and SMTP. My Exchange server supports smtp only when on the same network (i.e.the university server) ... The thing is on android I can connect fine using the exchange server settings. So I wondered if Thunderbird developers could be inspired by the Android dev for emails!

For native Exchange server access ExQuilla may be your best bet. You're correct that many Android email apps support Exchange natively. Don't hold your breath for Thunderbird doing this as well.