Candidate for the position of NUS Rep
Sophie Smith
- I want to stand up for students’ mental health. Though this issue is openly discussed, students are expected to continue with their studies and assignments in the same way as before with very little support for how much a year of isolating and lockdowns have affected them. Either through the universities or nationwide, we need more visible, accessible and useful support, not just articles with a list of tips to help mental health.
- I want to represent the views of students who have gone to university following a period out of education. There is a lot of pressure for people to go straight to university after they finish their A Levels, BTEC, college courses etc but we need to encourage people that have been out of education for a length of time to pursue a degree. I also think that it is important to try to pair degrees with experience in industry. Taking a couple of years before a degree course can be an important part of the decision process, as was my personal experience, but the voice of these students can be forgotten and aren’t well represented nationally.
- We need to look at student accommodation contracts. As we have seen this year, there can be uncertainty every year and student contracts, especially those through private landlords, are inflexible and many students are trapped within these contracts. These often do not fall under the same rules as private landlords for the general public or those of student halls. Students are often exploited through these contracts and as a delegate, I want to raise the importance of this issue and see the NUS fight for changes in this.