Election Support Service - here to help with 25/26 elections
Monday 13-10-2025 - 15:39
This autumn/winter, we’re here to help in preparing for your elections in 2025/26 - to feel informed and confident about running successful elections at your SUs. The election service is available to support all Charity members, and here’s a recap of the different ways we can help:
Firstly, register your election with us via this form. We request that SUs do this per election, so we know each year's key election dates & have access to up-to-date rules.
Planning
The annual election report is published each summer and summarises key findings and nationwide trends from over 60 SUs. We benchmark key data & include case studies across a range of elections-related topics. Recommendations from the Returning Officer (RO) specifically address issues we’ve seen crop up in 2024/25.
During the winter, we’ll be hosting a series of development webinars to help SUs plan ahead of their elections. We’ll host a range of webinars, aimed at first time or returning elections staff, as well a specific webinar for small and specialist SUs. All webinars will be recorded and available to watch back too - more details coming soon.
We also support the DRO Community of Practice, who meet to collaborate and share practice and support each other with elections. You can join the Teams site via this form, or the WhatsApp group ran by the CoP leads.
We also continue to encourage SUs to gather demographic data on their candidates. However, if your SU doesn’t have the capacity to do this, then during the spring election period we offer a free survey you can ask your candidates to complete.
During elections
During elections we’re here and can support you if things are getting tricky! We advise on queries & share guidance on dealing with complaints – or just give you a space to work through an issue if needed. Email us at elections@nus.org.uk as we monitor this closely during elections periods and triage queries by urgency. The RO can also rule on appeals via this form if you’re already signed up for the service’s support.
We’ll also be hosting a drop-in triage every weekday 4:00-4:30pm from Monday 23rd February to Friday 13th March if you want to chat over Teams - link shared early 2026.
Once your elections are over, feel free to request your bespoke RO report. The report confirms your elections were conducted in a free and fair manner – perfect for board reports and sending across to your institution.
Any questions, we’re here to help via elections@nus.org.uk.
