State of the Unions: How to restore free association and expression, combat extremism and make student unions effective

The Adam Smith Institute’s latest paper, by students Maximilian Young and Lucky Dube, explain how student unions cost taxpayers and students, lack democratic legitimacy, and undermine freedom of association and expression, and are in serious need of reform:

• Student unions are student-led groups that are supposed to represent students on campus to university administrations, provide useful services, and support clubs and associations. 

• Student unions cost taxpayers and students £165 million per annum, an average of £75 per student per annum or £225 over a three year degree course. This is evenly split between taxpayers and students. They employ 600 full-time student sabbatical officers.

• Student unions are perceived as ineffective by students, lack democratic legitimacy, and undermine freedom of association and expression.

• This has little to do with money available: student unions that receive higher block grants from universities tend to be poorer performing in the National Student Survey. 

• Only one-in-ten students actively participate in student union elections. Nevertheless, students are forced to be members of student unions, undermining freedom of association. 

• Many student unions are using taxpayer and student money to pursue a narrow political agenda that is irrelevant to representing students. These campaigns tend to follow a specific, “social justice,” political agenda focused on tackling alleged “structural oppression” against minority groups. 

• In pursuit of this agenda, student unions have sought to control student activity, such as stopping students from wearing sombreros, putting on fancy dress, buying Bacardi rum, clapping, whooping and cheering, and eating meat.

• Student unions have also sought to limit free speech, by limiting or blocking the selling of certain publications, failing to prevent or encouraging violence at meetings, seeking to approve speeches in advance, blocking the formation of free speech societies, imposing meeting rules, barring certain groups from freshers’ fairs, and requiring excessive red tape for speakers of which they disapprove.

• This agenda has made many students, including Jewish students, Christians, conservatives, and traditional feminists, feel uncomfortable on campus.

• Student unions also fund the National Union of Students’ (NUS), whose many officers are engaged in full time political campaigns on issues like defunding the police and decolonisation. Just 3% of students elect delegates to NUS, which makes it even less representative than even individual student unions.

• To address ineffectiveness, extremist activities, and lack of democratic legitimacy, student union system should be reformed by:

  • splitting a student union into social activities, a sports association, and a academic council, elected through a system of class and faculty representatives rather than centrally;

  • limiting funding from university grants to social, recreational and entertainment activities; student societies; sports; and academic representation.

  • making student societies independent from unions and directly supported by universities and members;

  • returning excess funds to students;

  • allowing establishment of broader student representative councils, but with voluntary membership and without compulsory student funding;

  • preventing pass-through funding of student or taxpayer money to national bodies, like the NUS;

  • not allowing student bodies to limit freedom of expression; and

  • strengthening provisions in law to prevent universities from limiting freedom of expression, including by using procedural mechanisms to frustrate freedom of expression or passing along security costs to student societies.