Interest Groups in British Politics: The National Union of Students (NUS)

University Degree Education and Teaching

Interest Groups in British Politics: The National Union of Students (NUS)

The purpose of this report is to examine the National Union of Students (NUS hereafter) in full, looking at the role it plays in politics, as well as focusing on its organisation, aims and principles, membership and recent campaigns. Pressure groups are “private, voluntary organisations which wish to influence or control particular public policies without actually becoming the government or controlling all public policy.” (Budge et al 1998: 287) furthermore interest groups are “Pressure groups which represent the interests of particular economic or occupational groups, especially business organisations, professional associations, and trade unions.” (Budge et al 1998: 291). This clearly is the case with the NUS, it is a voluntary membership organisation and represents approximately three million students nationwide. The NUS is not a political party in itself though; “parties fight elections, most pressure groups do not. The NUS is a pressure group but it does not run candidates for political office” (Budge et al 1998: 287 + 289) The NUS can draw political strength from the fact that it has large membership density, “currently 98% of students union’s affiliate to the NUS” (www.nus.org.uk) this means that it has almost every students union behind it when it comes to representation at national marches and rallies. This makes it a very strong voice for students across the country and can guarantee continuity throughout its ranks.

The NUS is represented within its affiliated colleges and universities by local student representative organisations. Currently the NUS has nearly seven hundred and fifty constituent members (virtually every university in the country) (www.nus.org.uk).

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“Every constituent member of the NUS pays an annual subscription fee. This is calculated by a number of means, depending on the number of students who are members of the union and the amount of money the union receives from their college or university. The funds raised from affiliation fees are used to fund campaigns and activities of the National Union, including running of all of the democratic structures in which the union is entitled to take part.” Subsidisation is another thing paid for by membership fees, by affiliating to the NUS the union gains membership of “NUS Services Limited, the purchasing consortium which gives unions cheaper deals for their commercial services (including beer, stationary etc).” (www.nus.org.uk)

The objectives of the NUS are:

to represent UK students locally, nationally and internationally
to promote the views of students on the education system
to promote the interests of students in economic, social and youth issues which have a direct effect on the status and welfare of students
to promote and assist the improvement and development of students' unions
to campaign on issues which affect students
to advise, inform and train student officers
to arrange services and benefits for members of NUS
to provide an infrastructure which enables students' unions to undertake their own work with the help of NUS research and documents
to encourage participation of its members in determining NUS policy
to encourage students to engage in a diverse range of activities through their own students' union.

(www.nus.org.uk)

Recent campaigns that the NUS has been associated with or has fronted included the campaign for the abolishment of tuition fees which included a massive march on London involving many tens of thousands of students from affiliated unions. Also the successful campaign against the introduction of top up fees for students.

Priority campaigns for this year include:

Winning Our Rights – “The campaign will work in four key areas of student life where rights are fundamental to security and equality: welfare, the workplace, the community and union development.” (www.nus.org.uk)

Investing in Education - “This prority campaign has 3 areas;

Investing in Education: Putting pressure on the government to increase spending on education to the level of the average European gross democratic product.
Funding Students: Following the successful campaign against top-up fees, this priority campaign seeks to refocus government and public attention on the abolition of tuition fees, the introduction of targeted grants and the extension of the Education Maintenance Allowance. It also aims to lobby central government to follow the Cubie and Rees reports and implement their recommendations UK-wide and to introduce state support for postgraduates and all ITT students.
Investment in education must be accompanied by high quality teaching and service provisions to students and the wider community. We seek to continue to support the vital roles of the Quality Assurance Agency and the Institute of Learning and Teaching in improving academic standards in higher education.” (www.nus.org.uk)

In conclusion it would be fair to say that the NUS is a highly active pressure group focusing on the interests of those in full time student educational. Such organisations are mainly concerned with material (mainly economical) interests (Budge et al 1998: 289), this is the case with the NUS as can be seen from there campaigns to date and for the coming year. It is a strong group due to its high membership density but due to the nature of its members it is unlikely to be financially strong. However no matter how strong the NUS is, students do not have much to bargain with and cannot strike like professional workers could, therefore it is never going to have a major influence on party politics and government.