University of Sussex Students' Union
Register
Skip to Content
Union Democracy > National Union of Students (NUS)  

Union Democracy

The Students’ Union is a democratic organisation, which means that students set the agenda.

Every year, six full-time student officers are elected by students and take a break from their studies to run the Students' Union. They are supported by a number of part-time officers and representatives who take on their Student’s Union roles alongside their studies, and by around 30 members of permanent staff.

In this section you can find out about decision making in the Students’ Union & how you can get involved, contact your elected representatives, vote in elections & referenda, and find out about opportunities to get more involved by standing for election for any one of the many officer and representative positions available throughout the year.

Contents

► National Union of Students (NUS)

The NUS is a national body that represents most Student Unions in the UK and leads the student movement - organising and directing national campaigns for its membership. NUS helps to co-ordinate member Unions to create a coherent, powerful, and consistant student voice. By working together, Unions around the UK and Northen Ireland can make sure that the views of students are taken seriously by government, Universities, and other decision makers. Working together increases our collective capacity to effect meaningful, positive, and sustainable social change.

NUS logoFor example, NUS coordinates campaigns as varied as:

Liberation Campaigns that represent discriminated groups such as LGBT and International Students
Student housing and welfare issues
Debates about how our education system is funded.

The NUS also has its own purchasing consortium, NUSSL, which owns 25% of its stake and supplies most of the students unions bar and shops with goods purchased at lower prices.

For more information visit www.nus.org.uk

NUS Extra Card

The NUS also supplies an NUS Extra Card, which you access to exclusive money-saving discounts. You can buy your card online at www.nus.org.uk

There is no such thing as an 'NUS discount' anymore. Since the introduction of the NUS Extra card several years ago, the only discounts that NUS negotiate with companies are the discounts provided for NUS Extra cardholders. These are exclusive discounts only available to students with an NUS Extra card.

Other discounts should be available to any student who can show they are a student, i.e. with their University ID/library card. This has your photo, name and confirms that you are a student.

Some companies mistakenly refer to an 'NUS discount' when really they mean a discount for students. The NUS logo is not required to show that someone is a student (indeed there are a number of students' unions which are not part of NUS)

NUS Democracy – how does this relate to the Students' Union?

Democracy is one of the guiding principles of the NUS and there are numerous NUS meetings for all Liberation campaigns and various areas of student life. All policy within the NUS is decided on a democratic basis at NUS Annual Conference, which takes place late in the Spring Term. All Unions send delegates chosen through cross campus elections. Delegates get the chance to debate and discuss issues before voting to decide policy.   

Many of our elected officers will receive training provided by the NUS, which may help them to better fulfill their roles as elected representatives.

How can I get involved?

If you are interested in any NUS meetings or conferences please contact the Welfare Officer at welfare@ussu.sussex.ac.uk for further information and advice.

For NUS Conferences, either Annual or Extraordinary (if called), the Students' Union will hold cross campus elections to determine which delegates will be sent. Find out more in our elections section.