Launch of our Annual Members Consultation 2025

It’s that time of the year again – the official launch of our Annual Members’ Consultation.

This article comprises three core elements:

The past - what the Union has been up to

The present - our progress and ‘wins’ achieved for you, our members, to date and

The future - (exciting!) ideas for potential developments moving forward

To ensure this consultation is accessible to all and tailored to your interests, we've moved it entirely online. This allows you to ‘jump’ to sections using the links attached in the sections outlined above, which in turn gives you more time to look at the information that matters most to you, at a time and in a place that suits you.

Beds Life Annual Survey

Similar to the last couple of years, we’re also running it alongside our annual end of academic year 'Beds Life' Survey.

The purpose of this survey is to offer you the opportunity to tell us how you feel we are working on your behalf. As a thank you for your feedback there will be offering FIVE lucky participants 1 of 5 £100 prizes (Only complete surveys will be added to draw). T&Cs apply

You can also provide live feedback on our performance, as you’ve read about it here. We hope that this will provide us with lots of information that we can use in planning for the next academic year.

So please, have a read of as much or as little as you like, get in touch if you have any questions, and have your say on our performance so far and our ideas moving forward.

The Past: what has Beds SU been up to?

2023/24 - catch up on what you missed last year:

View our Impact Report for 2023/24 (pdf, 8 pages)
View our Financial Overview for 2023/24 (pdf)
Read the full version of our Accounts (pdf, 50 pages)

Any questions? Use this link to ask a question.

You can take a look at what other people have asked further down this article.

The Present: the year so far...

This is the final year of our latest 4-year strategy (2021 – 2025).

Our strategy will continue to ensure that we empower your voice and advocate for a fair, equitable and rewarding student experience:
• in your course,
• in your student life,
• in creating positive change, and
• when you need support.

You might wonder how we are going about to achieve this. Well, have a look at the links below to find out more about how each of these areas of work have been contributing towards a number of positive changes in your student journey so far:
• Communities
• Student Voice
• Events
• Advice

Any questions? Use this link to ask a question. You can take a look at what other people have asked further down this article.

You can also share your feedback through participating in our annual end of year 'Beds Life' survey whereby we ask you, our members to feedback on the work we have done on your behalf this year. Your input is crucial in to shaping our plans for the year ahead and for this year our incoming new strategic plan.

As a token of our appreciation for your feedback we will enter all completed surveys into a prize draw with FIVE lucky participants being selected at random and winning one of five £100 cash prizes. (Only complete surveys will be added to draw). T&Cs apply.

Communities

Societies are a great way to meet like minded individuals and we have a wide range of Societies covering interests and hobbies. From the Art and Design Society and Beds Table Tennis Society through to the UoB Student Chess Society and Vegan Society with loads of interesting Societies in between. This year we have 73 active Societies with 1836 unique members.

Image 1 - 73 Societies, 1836 unique members

Our Social Opportunities includes events and activities that engage with hundreds of students on a regular basis. You might be an avid film fan who attends our regular film nights with free popcorn or Games and Toast Tuesday is more your speed, we have something for everyone. With 7657 students attending our Social Opportunities we are helping students to feel that sense of belonging within their community.

Image 2 - 7657 engagements in social opportunities

Student Voice

Course reps are the heart of the Student Voice, ensuring students from every year of every course can have their say about what happens on their course and in the wider university. Before being invited to training Course Reps are invited to meet the team along with other Course Reps so that they can begin their journey in a positive way. This year we held REPCON in January to upskill our Reps and host regular socials events to help the students in these positions connect with others, enabling them to be the funnel of communication between their peers and their course team.

Image 3 - 50% course rep engagement , 81% course rep positions filled

Beds SU doesn't get any timetabled sessions in front of students, unless we ask academics to give us some of their teaching time. Class inductions are a great way of letting students know what Beds SU is about and this year we have worked tirelessly with academics to make sure we can get in front of as many students as possible within your teaching time.

Over the last two years combined we have received 288 pieces of feedback, this year in the 3 ways-to-feedback you have given us 797 pieces of feedback through the online feedback form. This has included insight on course good practice to be shared and challenges that need looking into. Our team has been keeping up with the high volume of feedback making sure that every piece is escalated to the appropriate team and that the student who submitted their feedback is kept up to date with the outcome.

Image 4 - 89 Class inductions, 797 Online Feedback submissions

Events

We put on events throughout the year these include favourites such as St Patrick's day cocktails and Drag Queen Bingo to celebrate LGBT+ History month, as well as more recent events valued by our students like the International Fashion Show and Bhangra afternoons. Throughout the year we also host a number of viewing parties for big Sporting events including the Super Bowl at the Hub in Bedford. With over 200 events enjoyed by students this year we look forward to seeing you at one or more in the near future.

Image 5 - 202 Events and Cultural activities in our Venues

Advice

Our advice team held a stall at the start of the academic year, in October during Advice UK’S first ‘Advice Saves’ campaign week. Two stalls during November and February that focused on providing students resources and information about accommodation advice; including budgeting, students’ rights as tenants, housemate considerations and checklists. A stall in December to advise students about the university’s rules and guidance around academic integrity, how to avoid academic misconduct issues, what support is available and what resources of help there are to enhance students’ academic study skills. Stalls in both Luton and Bedford campuses to promote the important issue of sexual misconduct and inappropriate behaviours. These stalls provided both internal and external support information for students as well as what reporting processes the university undertakes, so students were aware of provisions available to them.

We have received 69 visits from students to access our Community Pantry. This has meant that students experiencing financial crisis have been able to secure food items and hygiene provisions, as well as advice on how to gain further support for their individual circumstances. The advice team also provided supplementary financial advice stalls to support this year’s Executive team’s Coat Drive and Food package giveaways, with the aim of supporting and tackling the issue of the cost of living crisis.

Student enquiries 1908 received so far this year. We continue to model the use of our fully blended support service- for students to access help and advice when needed. Simply click the red ‘Get help’ button on our Beds SU webpage or e-mail us at help@bedssu.co.uk- no matter what you need help with, our service will ensure you query goes to the right person or team to help you, thanks to our Member Relations Coordinator.

Image 6 - 1908 student enquiries

Knowledge Hub articles 104 total, 25 new Knowledge Hub articles have been added this year with more to come. Our Knowledge Hub articles are a great way for students to access in their own time self help support about a number of different topics we get asked about. More recent articles added have included support and safety information for students experiencing domestic abuse, what things to consider before choosing accommodation.

Advice cases 348, the most common reason students reach out for support is due to academic matters; with particular topics such as Academic Appeals, Progression/Assessment and Complaints being common issues students have sought advice about. Financial and housing matters have been the second and third respective topics that students have sought help for.

Hours of drop-ins 297, the Advice team have increased number of sessions this year by 2 ½ hours, this, along with the rescheduling of sessions has meant there is a drop-in session time available every weekday now (Mon-Fri) scheduled sessions offer a mix of times of day (including afternoons and a later evening session); some are available in person (Luton) but all are accessible online for students to join and speak to an advisor more conveniently.

Image 7 - 297 hours of drop in, 104 self help articles, 348 cases supported by advisors

The Future: what's coming next?

In February we notified you of some proposed changes we wanted to introduce here at Beds SU with regards to the Governing Document which is the blue print for how Beds SU operates.

Our proposal was to adopt the NUS's new version of the governing documents which is more accessible both in the language it uses and readability.
You can read our initial proposal here.

The consultation period closed on Monday 10 March and we received no alternative proposals, therefore the Trustees have now approved a new set of Articles for adoption by the Members and the perceived benefits by modernising the charity's Articles in line with best practice to make them more accessible to students.

Adoption of the proposal includes adoption of the Transitional Arrangements and incorporation of the Memorandum of Association into the Articles of Association.

You can read a copy of the proposed revised governing document here.

As part of our Annual Members Consultation we are asking students "Do you approve the proposed changes of the charity's governing document?". To have your say simply click the highlighted copy above or click here.

Your Questions

Thanks to everyone who has been in touch with questions. Click on the questions below to see the answers already provided or ask your own question here.

Currently no questions submitted

Where do my questions get sent?

It depends what your question is about – we will seek to get it to the person who knows the most about it. For example, if you have an operational question about our Student Experience Leaders, we would ask the staff member responsible for supporting Student Experience Leaders. However, if you were seeking information about the strategy behind the Union, we might ask one of our Board of Trustees to get back to you.