Representation is about you

Our Trustee Board approved a review of our Officer-led student representation model following repeated low voter turnout and a growing diverse student population.

"What does representation mean to you? What exactly do you want to be represented on? Who do you trust most to represent you? What can we do differently? "

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Over 1,900 students responded.

We hosted a 2-day hackathon with 25 students to co-create ideas, themes and solutions to answer "how would you design representation to meet the diverse needs of 30,000 students?"

We brought together all our research and co-created ideas and presented them to our Trustee Board. Together, we explored proposals to move away from the Officer-led representation model to invest in alternatives based on our three key goals – localised representation, student-owned change and barrier-free opportunities.

We presented our work so far to the Guild Accountability Board to keep student leaders up to date on progress so far and expected outcomes. Our academic representation team worked hard with Officers and pilot Department Reps to better support and engage them.

Working with our student-led Trustee Board, we’ve decided to keep the five officer roles for 2025-26 while scaling up new representation pilots. This gives us time to test, refine, and measure their impact before making big changes. From 2026-27 onwards, we’ll consider moving away from the Officer-led model—but only if it’s the right call for students.

We elected Student Officers for the 2025/26 academic year! A massive congratulations to our new student leaders, who are ready to champion change and make Exeter an even better place for students. We saw an incredible 3,043 students casting their votes over four days – a 9.7% turnout of the student body, contributing to 19,049 votes in total! Each vote helps amplify student voices, ensuring your concerns and ideas reach the University loud and clear.

We rolling out pilot projects to explore new, more direct ways for students to feel represented and drive change. Across Term 3,  we tested, evaluated, and refined initiatives, using real student experiences to shape what comes next.

The pilots will inform the future of representation at the Guild, helping us decide how best to use our resources—including whether we move away from officer-led representation to reinvest in alternative models that better serve students.

Alongside this, we’ll be keeping the Student Accountability Board updated, developing engagement and consultation plans, and making sure students remain at the heart of every decision.