In the United Kingdom, students' unions are organisations that exist at universities to represent the interests of students. Although most are known as Students' Unions other common terms include Guilds of Students and Students' Associations, the latter being the more common term in Scotland. Student unions facilitate student societies, such as sports clubs and student newspapers, as well as representing students politically to their respective universities and at a national level. However, it is possible for individual students not to be a member of their union.
The majority of unions are affiliated with the National Union of Students, although a minority are not and unions can disaffiliate from the NUS. [1] There are several other representative bodies of which unions may be members such as the Aldwych Group, for unions of Russell Group institutions, and the National Postgraduate Committee, which represents postgraduate students. In Northern Ireland, all unions are members of the National Union of Students-Union of Students in Ireland.
Students' unions tend to be run by a team of student-elected sabbatical officers. Funding for the unions comes from a "block grant" from the university and the provision of services to members through the running of shops and bars. Students' unions are regulated under the Education Act 1994, an Act of Parliament which states that student unions must be run in a democratic manner. Edinburgh University Students' Association is the oldest students' union in the United Kingdom and Liverpool Guild of Students is England's oldest students' union. [2] The University of Glasgow has two independent students' unions, although undergraduates usually only join one of these (but can choose to join both). Some Common Rooms at collegiate universities also have the status of students' unions under the 1994 Education Act and exist as independent charities. Keele University also has two independent unions, one for all students (Keele University Student's Union) and one specifically for its postgraduate community (Keele Postgraduate Association - also known as the KPA).
Imperial College London (Imperial) is a public research university in London, England. Its history began with Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, who envisioned a cultural area in South Kensington that included museums, colleges, and the Royal Albert Hall. In 1907, these colleges – the Royal College of Science, the Royal School of Mines, and the City and Guilds of London Institute – merged to form the Imperial College of Science and Technology.
London Metropolitan University, commonly known as London Met, is a public research university in London, England. The University of North London and London Guildhall University merged in 2002 to create the university. The University's roots go back to 1848.
Middlesex University London is a public research university based in Hendon, northwest London, England. The university also has campuses in Dubai and Mauritius. The name of the university is derived from its location within the historic county boundaries of Middlesex.
Keele University is a public research university in Keele, approximately three miles from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, it was granted university status by Royal Charter as the University of Keele in 1962.
Swansea University is a public research university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom.
Cardiff University is a public research university in Cardiff, Wales. It was established in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and became a founding college of the University of Wales in 1893. It was renamed University College, Cardiff in 1972 and merged with the University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology in 1988 to become University of Wales College, Cardiff and then University of Wales, Cardiff in 1996. In 1997 it received degree-awarding powers, but held them in abeyance. It adopted the operating name of Cardiff University in 1999; this became its legal name in 2005, when it became an independent university awarding its own degrees.
Warwick Students' Union, also known as Warwick SU, is the students' union for the University of Warwick, in Coventry, England.
Queen Mary University of London is a public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University of London.
John Patrick McCarthy is a British journalist, writer and broadcaster, and one of the hostages in the Lebanon hostage crisis. McCarthy was the United Kingdom's longest-held hostage in Lebanon, where he was a prisoner for more than five years.
The University of Portsmouth (UoP) is a public university in Portsmouth, England. Comprising five faculties, the university offers a wide range of academic disciplines. With around 28,280 students enrolled in undergraduate and postgraduate programs, the university in 2022 was the 25th-largest higher education institution by student enrolments in the United Kingdom. The university employed approximately 3,500 staff in 2020.
Leeds Beckett University (LBU), formerly known as Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU) and before that as Leeds Polytechnic, is a public university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has campuses in the city centre and Headingley. The university's origins can be traced to 1824, with the foundation of the Leeds Mechanics Institute. Leeds Polytechnic was formed in 1970, and was part of the Leeds Local Education Authority until it became an independent Higher Education Corporation on 1 April 1989. In 1992, the institution gained university status. The current name was adopted in September 2014.
Keele University School of Medicine is a medical school located in Newcastle-under-Lyme and Shrewsbury. The first two years of the school's MBChB degree are mostly taught on the Keele University campus, while early contact with patients is critical, and there is significant interaction in a clinical environment from the second year onwards.
Edge Hill University is a campus-based public university in Ormskirk, Lancashire, England. The university, which originally opened in 1885 as Edge Hill College, was the first non-denominational teacher training college for women in England, before admitting its first male students in 1959. In 2005, Edge Hill was granted Taught Degree Awarding Powers by the Privy Council and became Edge Hill University on 18 May 2006.
The University of Wales Trinity Saint David is a multi-campus university with three main campuses in South West Wales, in Carmarthen, Lampeter and Swansea, a fourth campus in London, England, and learning centres in Cardiff, Wales, and Birmingham, England.
The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of Mines were established in 1838, 1855, 1863, and 1888 respectively. These institutions later formed the University of Exeter after receiving its royal charter in 1955. In post-nominals, the University of Exeter is abbreviated as Exon., and is the suffix given to honorary and academic degrees from the university.
Harper Adams University, founded in 1901 as Harper Adams College, is a public university located close to the village of Edgmond, near Newport, in Shropshire, England. Established in 1901, the college is a specialist provider of higher education for the agricultural and rural sector. It gained university college status in 1998, and university status in 2012.
For our Future's Sake (FFS) was a student-led pressure group supporting a referendum on the Brexit withdrawal agreement. It represented at least 60 Students’ Unions, and 980,000 students, across the UK.