As a member of the NUS family you are part of one of the largest, oldest, and most connected student movements in the world. We are proud that currently over 500 or 95% of students’ unions in the UK are in membership of NUS and NUS Charity.

If you want to find out more about how to get the best from your membership or for more details on any of the services listed below please contact membership@nus.org.uk 

Being part of a National student voice – NUS membership 

NUS is your national union representing university and college students across the UK. 

Together we achieve national change for students.

As one of the world’s largest student movements, we’re fighting to make education free and lifelong. We believe that education should be accessible and enjoyable for all – and our community of students, educators, activists and advocates are determined to make it happen.

NUS has been behind every big win for students, and at the forefront of change on issues affecting people across society – from championing LGBTQ+ rights, pushing to decolonise education and standing up against powerful corporate interests.

As well as fighting, we’re here to protect. Students are often the least heard voices and without our movement, their needs would be ignored. When COVID-19 hit, we came together to demand protections for student renters, push for better internet access and stand up for those experiencing hardship – saving students across the UK a staggering £1 billion.

Together we’ve been a force for radical change since 1922, and our movement is still going strong. We won’t rest until our education system is open to all, champions diversity, and allows every student to thrive.

Impact

With over 100 years of experience representing students, NUS is the best and only route to guarantee that you and your students will be represented on the national stage. 

As a member you directly control what we work on through our Participatory Democracy. You identify issues, solutions, and you set our priorities. Being part of NUS’ democracy also offers your students opportunities for personal growth – people who take part often find the experience educational and sometimes even life-changing.  

The main impact we bring is making change for students. You can choose to be actively involved in change-making or to simply feel the effect of the change-making. Either way, you can be assured that your students are safer, happier, better off, and receiving a better education because of your membership of NUS.  

We’ve had plenty of wins in recent times – especially over the 2022/23 year. Here are just a few:

• Increased student support - 40% in NI, 11% in Scotland & 9.4% in Wales.
• EMA increased by a third in Wales for FE students.
• £40m for students in NI via the UK spring budget.
• Reducing the cost of transport - £2 cap on bus fares in England, half price public transport for young people in NI.
• £15m hardship funding in England, £3.6m in Wales and £2.8m in NI.
• More than half of universities in England pledge to stop using NDAs
• Regulations to tackle harassment and sexual misconduct in HE in England

 

Even more recently, we’ve sent almost 15,000 students enfranchised via free Citizen cards, providing them with a form of voter ID ahead of elections. We’ve also seen an incredible 20% increase in the Apprentice living wage!

And a breakdown of our historic impacts can be found here. 

What's next?

We're continuing our work representing students at a national level and building a movement for change.

Supporting Strong Students’ Unions - NUS Charity Membership  

NUS Charity provides the foundations for SUs to thrive. We coach, fund, facilitate and advise to empower SUs across the UK. Our events, programmes and support are designed to expand your reach, grow your income and enable your SU to provide the best possible student experience. Our Trading Consortium harnesses market expertise, ethical purchasing and competitive pricing to ensure your commercial outlets succeed. From elections and officer inductions to self evaluation and networking, together we build unshakable SUs.

For a detailed list of all the services the charity offers click here.

With NUS Charity memebrship there are a huge range of services that add value to your students' union, which all of our members can tap into. From trading support to su.careers, Quality Students’ Unions to the consultants directory, the Learning Academy to governance peer review: NUS Charity is your first port of call to help your students’ union thrive. 

Value 

The value of your membership to NUS Charity goes far beyond the financial return you get from membership, though this should not be understated. 

As a collective, our purchasing power alone delivers significant savings for our members. For members who trade, our trading support service saves on licensed trade and retail purchases.  

Our central billing platform saves suppliers £860k in administration costs - this enables us to negotiate very competitive pricing for our members. It also saves SU’s £430k in administrative costs and we deal with any disputes which also saves you a big headache too!! We make sure unions are giving students what they want, at a great price, whilst generating income to fund our movement. Last year we paid members £2.1m in payment linked to trading programmes and raised £1.4m to support the work of NUS. 

But even if you don’t trade there’s still lots of added value from our collective buying power. As a member you are automatically enrolled as an associate member of NCVO. We collectively commission resources from respected partners such as DAC Beachcroft, Bates Wells, NCVO and SOS-UK. These briefings and resources are an invaluable source of information for our members 

As well as the significant financial value of your NUS Charity membership, there’s also the value you receive from being part of the student and student union movement. Together we champion strong students unions. Both staff and officers in your Students’ Union become part of a peer network with unparalleled expertise in our sector. And you get the peace of mind of knowing that if a crisis does happen, you will be backed up and supported. 

What's next?

We're continuing to support our members through a combination of training, connecting members, using our collective power and supporting those members in crisis.

Find out all the services we have to offer, and how you can access them, here.