Elections
The UCB Guild of Students is led by our elected student officers who represent the voice of the student body, making important decisions that impact your university experience.
Our elections give you the power to choose (or put yourself as) the student leaders who will guide our student community, advocate for your needs, and ensure that UCB is a vibrant, inclusive, and supportive place to study.
ANY QUESTIONS? email elections@ucbguild.co.uk
The Students Have Spoken!
As we publish the results of the 2025 Guild Elections, we would like to take a moment to thank all 2,253 students who voted and made their voices heard, the Guild team who worked tirelessly to support all candidates and voters from the first day of Nominations until Results Day, and the countless University College Birmingham staff who have supported the Guild in the last weeks.
Lastly, we would like to say a big thanks to all of the candidates who stepped up to represent their peers, and who showed such motivation and dedication to create change and make UCB better for all students. We see the hard work you’ve put in this week, and whether you have been elected into Office or not, we are very proud of you.
And now, without further ado, here is the new Guild Officer Team for the 2025/26 academic year:
Your new full-time Education Officer is Soham.
Your new part-time Education Officer is Lauren. We will have a By-Election for the remaining post.
Your new full-time Societies & Activities Officer is Saroj.
Your new part-time Societies & Activities Officers are Bishal and Sagar.
Your new full-time Equality & Wellbeing Officer is Kunal.
Your new part-time Equality & Wellbeing Officers are Dhruv and Harley.
Detailed Results
Like most Students’ Unions, we use Single Transferable Voting (STV) where each student can choose to rank their candidates. When the votes are counted, every student has only one vote, but it can be reassigned based on their preferences if their top choice doesn’t win. To do this, the counting takes place over several ’rounds’ as the votes are transferred, with a winner needing more than 50% of the votes remaining.
The full vote count is available below:
What happens now
After every election, the National Union of Students review the key statistics and any concerns before certifying the election. The 2025 Officer elections have been certified by NUS, meaning that they have been confirmed as free and fair.
The Guild’s Board of Trustees then reviews the elections in detail to examine opportunities to improve in the future. The Guild Director will also present a report to the Board covering the 12 complaints that were received during this year’s election (2024: 25 complaints).
If you have feedback that you would like to share, please contact Mike (Head of Operations) on mike@ucbguild.co.uk.
nominations
There are 4 steps – Know what you want to run for, nominate yourself, attend mandatory candidate training, and submit your manifesto.
Step One: Know your Roles
Our elected Officers have three key focuses – Education, Societies & Activities, and Equalities & Wellbeing.
This Year we will be electing three officers for each focus with two part-time positions and one full-time position, meaning we will have a total of nine Guild Officers to be elected. You can see descriptions for each of these positions below:
Please note: to eligible for a Full Time Role, you will need to be 18 or older by July 1st 2025.
to be eligible for a part time role, you can be any age, as long as you will be continuing your studies in the 2025-2026 academic year.
Step Two: Nominate Yourself
If you would like to stand in our elections for one of these positions, please click the link below. Full training on election rules will be given to nomination candidates, as well as advice available for writing your manifesto and running a good campaign. Or maybe you know somebody you think would be a brilliant officer – tell us through Recommend A Friend!
All candidates must attend this training and submit a manifesto before the start of campaigning – you have until February 21st. We recommend you submit your nomination as soon as possible!
Step Three: Training
You will be required to attend Training with The Guild before the end of the Nomination Period.
The Guild are currently arranging session slots for you to attend, and key dates will be added here – candidates already nominated will also receive a email update with all dates as they are added.
If you are not able to attend any proposed sessions – please email elections@ucbguild.co.uk to arrange a session. We can be flexible with notice, and a legitimate reason why you cannot attend (for example, if the proposed dates conflict with course schedule) however it is your responsibility to arrange this – we will not be chasing you.
Step Four: Submit Your Manifesto
You are required to submit a brief manifesto by the 21st of February to tell students who you are and why you are running. You will need to send this to elections@ucbguild.co.uk
You can find the manifesto guide here:
Manifestos can only be 200 words maximum.
Name: Photo:
Manifesto Slogan: (A snappy slogan for your campaign, for example “Vote Mike – the voice for all at UCB”
Who are you: (Introduce yourself)
3 Aims if you were elected:
(3 short bullet points, on what you will focus on if you are elected).
Example:
More support for Course Reps
Campaign against hidden course costs
A more sustainable campus
Summarise
What will you bring to the role: (Experience, skills, passions?) & why students should vote for you)
Campaigning Resource Hub
All the currently available resources related to our elections, all in one place!
