As your Students’ Union we’ll have your back throughout your university experience, whether that’s offering helpful advice on that niggling academic issue, campaigning for the changes you want to see on campus, or laying on great events and extracurricular opportunities through our student groups to give you a break from your studies.

Read on to find out more about what you can expect from us this year and how you can get involved.

Your officers

Each year the student body elects four Sabbatical Officers (often known as ‘Sabbs’) to work full-time in the Students' Union, representing your views and opinions, running campaigns, and working alongside Union and College staff to implement policy change.

They’re passionate about making your university experience the best it possibly can be, so make sure you get to know them and reach out if you have any questions or ideas!

Meet the Sabbs

Representing your academic interests

It’d be very easy to think the Students’ Union was here to purely focus on the social side of campus life, but that’s only half of the story. At the end of the day you’re here to get a degree and one of our core goals is making sure that this happens.

Representing your academic interests is hugely important to us, which is why we run our academic rep system, empowering 400+ elected reps who represent you and your course. It’s not the sexiest subject, but they really can be the difference between you obtaining a first or second class degree.

Course reps work on ensuring your degree programme is everything you expected it to be, department reps look at department-wide changes, school reps work across several departments to instigate change, while the VP Education works across the wider College.

As a new student you can stand to be the course rep for your chosen degree programme when nominations open on 21 September, giving you the chance to directly influence what happens on your course and give a voice to your peers.

Tell me more about academic reps

Student Collectives

Making sure that you are valued and represented during your time here is one of our top priorities, so we’ve established eight Student Collectives to give underrepresented groups a platform to have their voices heard.

As well as organising activities and campaigns, they receive support from and work with the Union to secure the general interests and rights of students who self-define into the relevant group.

Even if you don’t define into the group you can register yourself as a supporter, allowing you to take part in any of the activities run by the Collectives.

View the Collectives

Student executives

We want students to collaborate more effectively on key issues, and that’s where our three Student Executives come in. These are committees of student representatives responsible for the development, scrutiny and maintenance of policy and plan, identifying where work should be undertaken in their area.

Our Executives are:

• Education
• Wellbeing, Community & Diversity
• Societies, Sports & Opportunities

Each Executive is chaired by a full-time Sabbatical Officer, supported by student representatives from student groups, our academic reps and Student Collectives.

Find out more

SU elections

The Students' Union is here to represent your views so that your time studying at Royal Holloway is a positive and enjoyable experience. By being the collective voice of students we are able to tackle pressing issues, lobby for social change and campaign on your behalf - using your views and opinions as guidance.

In December, nominations open for the SU Elections, where you can run to be one of our four full-time paid Sabbatical Officers for the 2021/22 academic year. Even if you’re not interested in running to be a Sabb, it’s really important that you use your voice when the voting period comes around in March.

Give me a slice of that juicy democracy goodness