News

Welcome!

It’s a huge honour to be able to write to you as the new President of the National Union of Students. As the representative voice for students across the UK, NUS has a proud history of standing up for the rights of students, and fighting to ensure you can gain access to a world-class education system.

I have to say it is a particular honour writing to you, as Leicester University students. It was while a student at Leicester - where I studied in the School of English and lived in Gilbert Murray Stamford Hall - that I first became involved in student politics, eventually becoming Academics Affairs Officer at the students union. And as a contributor, and eventually editor, of ‘The Ripple’, it is also great to see that student media continues to be alive and well at Leicester.

NUS has played a critical role defending your rights and winning campaigns to make student life better. In the last two years we have clawed back millions of pounds for students to fight for interest-free student overdrafts, won a national tenancy deposit scheme to make sure you get your money back from landlords and conducted ground-breaking research into the student experience to ensure your academic and welfare issues are prioritised within your university.

During the recent General Election we ran the most successful pledge campaign of any campaigning organisation in the UK, where 1500 candidates and now over 150 MPs have already pledged to vote against higher tuition fees, including Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and nearly 100 Labour MPs.

The year ahead promises to be both exciting and challenging. Government cuts to the education budget, and the reporting of the long-awaited review into University Funding and Student Finance chaired by Lord Browne will take centre stage. NUS will be leading the fight to oppose any increase in tuition fees, whilst fighting for a fairer alternative altogether.

Students’ unions will play a crucial role in lobbying your local MPs, and you should pressure them into voting against higher fees should this be proposed by the Government. NUS will be working with SUs to support them in their efforts, and will also be holding a National Demonstration on Wednesday 10 November in opposition to the funding cuts, and moves towards introducing markets into the univesity sector. The demonstration will be taking place in central London from midday - it would be great if as many of you as possible would join us! More information will be available shortly on our website (www.nus.org.uk).

But we won’t just be fighting on fees. Accommodation, feedback, contact time, quality of teaching, environmental issues, supporting students’ unions, hidden course costs, liberation, global justice, volunteering, employability, academic representation… and so much more are all on the agenda.

To help us get better at communicating with you directly, feel free to check out www.nus.org.uk - as it will be kept up to date with the key student news, latest campaign wins, competitions, interviews and much more. And if you’re really keen on getting news even quicker you can follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/nusuk or join our Facebook Fan page at www.facebook.com/nationalunionofstudents

Every student in a member students’ union is automatically a member of your students’ union and also NUS, and this means you are eligible to buy an NUS Extra card for just £10.99 which has a whole host of nationally negotiated discounts which students can access. You can also add on an ISIC Card for just £2. For more details check out our website - www.nus.org.uk

NUS has a long history at leading the fight to ensure students’ can get the best deal possible - I’m really looking forward to my term in office and helping to make the lives of students’ even better!

In unity,

Aaron Porter
NUS National President
www.twitter.com/AaronPorter