Thank you for your feedback about SUSU in the NSS survey! This year over 60% of students say that we represent your academic interests and needs, and we hope to build on this even more for next year.

We have seen the biggest rise in rankings of the year (from 48.9% to 60.4%) and we now rank highly within Russell Group students’ unions. You can view the full list of results here: NSS 2022 Benchmarking.

Oliver Murray, Union President says “The NSS results are a demonstration of the positive work and impact the Union has been able to have … Read the rest

Thursday 16 June marks Social Mobility Awareness Day, which is a chance to promote conversations and celebrate commitments to positive change.

Here at SUSU we’ve created the Social Mobility Network. This was set up at the end of 2021 by myself – Savanna Cutts, VP Welfare and Community – and Gino Graziano, UoS Director of Widening Participation and Social Mobility, highlighting a joint passion and commitment to social mobility.

The Network was created as a result of my manifesto commitment to provide greater representation and support to students from lower income backgrounds. The Network focuses on community building … Read the rest

Congratulations to all our winners in the 2022 Athletic Union Ball! We hope everyone had an amazing night celebrating the sporting achievements of Team Southampton this year.

Our award winners are:

First Year Sportsperson: Eloise Toms (Ladies Lacrosse)

The Union Engagement Award: Neve Smith (Korfball Club)

The James Atherton Sport & Wellbeing Award: Southampton University Trampolining Club

The Mike Beresford Coach Award: Graham Dodsworth (Ladies Cricket)

The Sports Volunteer of the Year Award: Francesca Eyles (Trampolining Club)

Most Improved Team of the Year: Men’s Lacrosse

Sportsman of the Year: Joseph Rickman (Trampolining Club)… Read the rest

At SUSU, we cherish the value of standing strong for all of our students. On behalf of the entire team at SUSU, I am horrified to watch the unfolding of an unprovoked attack by Vladimir Putin on the people of Ukraine. We all watch in awe of the brave Ukrainian and Russian civilians speaking out against tyranny and military aggression.

The University is in the process of contacting all students affected by the fast moving situation, a number of whom have already reached out to the Students’ Union for support. I would like to remind all students that SUSU’s Advice … Read the rest

Darcy Coomber was the former President of Monte Netball club and student at the university, studying Politics and International Relations. Unfortunately, during her final year at Southampton, she passed away peacefully on 27th January 2021.  

A year on from her passing, a trophy donated by Darcy’s dad, Chris Coomber, was unveiled in the Students’ Union Building.  Chris was honoured that both Professor Russell Bentley and Vice Chancellor Mark Smith were there on the day. 

This trophy, in memory of Darcy, is presented to the student who achieved the highest mark in their Politics and International Relations dissertation. The award is … Read the rest

Recently at SUSU, we’ve had confirmation that the University of Southampton accepted our proposal on LGBTQ+ flats and therefore they will be implementing LGBTQ+ exclusive flats in their halls of residences in the 2022/2023 academic year.

This has been a big win as it was an idea brought forward by our student LGBTQ+ Officer, Jamie Norton. Having seen other universities (such as Sheffield, UWE, and Cardiff) introduce similar flats, he wrote a proposal for the halls, pitched directly to the Director of Residences. Jamie set out the main benefit of having these flats being that it “would be a simple … Read the rest

As many of you will be aware, prior to Christmas SUSU ran lots of initiatives to help tackle student safety issues, in particular actions to combat the rise in spiking. We wanted to provide an update as to where we’ve got to on all of this. So please see below for the update from Matt (VP Sports) and Savanna (VP Welfare & Community).

Student Safety Charter

As many of you will remember, on Monday 25th October we hosted a town hall event to try and create some positive change around the subject of spiking. From this event we created a … Read the rest

Following a petition being submitted earlier this week by a student which very quickly gained well over the required 250 signatures, SUSU held an All Student Vote which asked students to vote on whether they thought the University should move exams online in light of ongoing concerns about Covid.

The All Student Vote needed to achieve quoracy of 10% of all students voting and this figure was reached within a few hours of the vote going live. Because of the need to move quickly to lobby the University, we decided to close the vote early and act on the clear … Read the rest

The safety of students continues to be a top priority at SUSU, and we have lots to update you on when it comes to Covid safety, anti-spiking measures and getting you home safely. We encourage everyone to be vigilant, and stay safe.

Take a look at our updates below to find out more:

Vybe Christmas
Our final Vybe in The Cube will continue to go ahead on Friday 10 December. We want to make sure everyone’s experience at Vybe is as safe as possible, so we are putting extra safety measures in place and we’ve asked students attending to follow … Read the rest

On Thursday 28 October Ben Dolbear, Union President, and Professor Mark E. Smith, President and Vice Chancellor at the University of Southampton, signed the annual Relationship Agreement between SUSU and the University.

This agreement outlines the relationship between our two organisations and how we will work together throughout the academic year: “At the University of Southampton our students are central to all of our work. The strong relationship between the University and the Union is crucial to ensure we collectively support our student body to the highest level. Together, we are engaged in the important process of educating and transforming … Read the rest