Thursday 20-11-2025 - 12:06

It was great to see so many of you at our Small SU Lead and Change 2025 events. Let's keep the momentum we built at those events going with this series of resources to help you deliver impact in your setting. 

Elections Support Service 

Find out more about the service and how we can help, sign-up and access elections development resources. Find out more. 

We are also running a Small SUs Elections Development Webinar to build on the session we delivered at Small SUs Lead and Change this year. It's happening on Tuesday 25 November and you can sign up now. 

Staff Networks

These networks provide a space to share good practice, explore collective problem solving and offer peer support. They meet throughout the year and host ongoing discussions on Teams. 

College SA Staff Network (Scotland).

College Staff Network (England).

Learner Voice Framework

The Learner Voice Framework is an online self-assessment and development tool that enables organisations to identify, measure and improve the quality of their learner voice practice. It is based on five sector-shaped principles: 

• Partnership 
• Empowered Learners 
• Inclusive 
• Embedded & Valued 
• Being Invested in, Strategic and Sustainable 

The framework offers space for a shared understanding of what learner voice is and what effective learner voice looks like in practice. It guides a conversation about the value and importance of empowering learners to shape their education and be active citizens in their community. And it encourages new partnerships throughout the sector and within organisations that work in a meaningful and inclusive way to put learners back at the heart of education. Explore the framework.

Small SU Governance Resources

We've recently teamed up with Guild HE to commission in-depth research in collaboration with six small SUs, looking at all aspects of the governance and structure of those organisations. The resulting report gave a really interesting insight into the opportunities and challenges for small SUs across FE and HE, as anecdotally there are many similarities across colleges and universities.  

As promised as part of the project, a suite of guidance documents has been created to support small HE SUs with their governance. Many of these can be adapted if your small SU is not yet a charity and has an advisory board rather than a trustee board, for example. Check out the resources.

Communities of Practice

Our Communities of Practice bring together SU staff from across the UK to share ideas, support one another, and drive best practice. Join in. 

Elected Officers' Toolkit

This toolkit empowers new officers, giving them an additional layer of support throughout their term. Written in collaboration with officers, these easy digestible pieces of content can be read and understood 30mins before a meeting. The toolkit provides officers with a framework to utilise and boost their confidence in uncomfortable situations, alongside some top tips for working as part of their organisations. Get the toolkit.

Tactical Planning and Prioritisation - this resource focuses on tactical planning & prioritisation. It’s a toolkit officers are encouraged to work through, helping officers be pragmatic with the time left in their terms, and aimed to support them in deciding how to prioritise work in a self-taught capacity. Download this resource. 

College Learner Voice Resources

College learner representative systems: the fundamentals - guidance on the fundamentals of learner representative systems in colleges.

Supporting college student governors - guidance on supporting student governors in colleges.

Impact in SUs and Learner Voice Activities - guidance on reporting impact in students' unions & learner voice activities.

Evaluation in SUs and Learner Voice Activities - guidance on evaluation in students' unions & learner voice activities for colleges.

Officer wellbeing & resilience guidance 

This resource offers guidance for SUs to help create a more emotionally resilient workforce. Explore the resource.

Annual Officer Review Templates

This resource has been created to support Further Education Students' Unions in Wales, in developing an officer-lead annual review of their student voice. This resource is written as a template, and provides prompts for FE officers to complete towards the end of their term, asking them to reflect on their experiences and importantly, how they've championed the student voice throughout the year. Asking officers to reflect on the student voice in a similar way each year will also aid SUs in building a picture of their long-term student voice impacts. 
Written as part of the Welsh Student Voice so branded NUS Wales, but also suitable for UK FE officers. Get the templates.

Strategic Planning Toolkit for Small SUs 

This toolkit aims to provide SUs with guidance and useful resources to support them through the process of developing a Strategic Plan. Many SUs have active strategies which have supported them to become more sustainable organisations, have increased stakeholder engagement, created better decision making and communications and increased their resource and capacity. Read the toolkit.

DCSA Resources

All the DCSA resources can be found here.