Every 5 years, we review our documents which govern The Students’ Union at UWE and determine how student democracy works. Over the last 18 months, we have developed proposed changes to our Constitution, that includes the Articles of Association and Bye-Laws, which we believe will better enable your voice to be heard and actioned on by your representatives.

Our proposed changes include our Officer structure, Student Council, and the democratic policymaking process. You can see our full proposed Articles of Association and Bye-Laws, or you can scroll down for a summary.

These proposals have been shaped through extensive consultation with students and staff during our ‘Democracy and Governance Review.’ This consultation involved a large survey and focus groups which gathered feedback from a diverse range of students through the Student Consultation Panel, Student Reps, elected leader and members of Sports Club and Societies.

Now, it is up to you, the members of the Union, on whether to accept or reject the proposed changes.

We strongly encourage you to attend our Student Members’ Meeting to hear the reasoning behind the proposed changes, debate them, and vote on them. The event is at 17:00-17:30 on Monday 26 October 2026, you can join us in-person on Frenchay in 4B063 or can join online via Teams here.

If you can’t make the event, you can vote NOW via this form.

Summary of proposed changes

• You told us that you wanted your full-time elected leaders to reflect the diversity of UWE Bristol students and are proactive advocate for their constituents.
  • We have reshaped the portfolio of our 5 Full-Time Sabbatical Officers to ensure that every student is represented across the roles:
    • Students’ Union President;
    • Undergraduate Education Officer;
    • International and Postgraduate Officer;
    • Equality and Societies Officer;
    • Sports and Wellbeing Officer
      
      
• You told us that you wanted Officers currently studying at the university to represent marginalised communities and focus on the priorities of students:
  • Our Part-Time Officer rolesthat work in partnership with the Full-Time Sabbatical Officer reflect underrepresented groups of students to ensure that their voices are heard regularly. We have also included College Officers in the structure as it was clear through student feedback that the academic interests of students are at the forefront of what we do:
    • College Officers (one each from CATE, CBL, CHSS);
    • Campus Cohesion Officer;
    • Disabled Students’ Officer;
    • Global Majority Officer;
    • LGBT+ Officer;
    • Sustainability Officer;
    • Trans+ Officer;
    • Women’s Officer;
      
      
• You told us that Student Council can be difficult to engage with and want more ways to engage in democratic processes
  • We are expanding the Student Council membership to include more representatives, introducing Lead School Reps, Part-Time Officers and Full-Time Officers alongside Student Reps and Student Group committee members.
  • Student Council will assign a democratically chosen ‘Campaigning Priority’ to each Full-Time Officer, then each Student Council meeting will vote on whether the Full-Time Officers have met students' expectations on the campaign with a clear process that holds Officers to account.
  • We have made our Referendum process clearer, where a student member can request a Referendum by submitting a proposed question accompanied by the names and student numbers of 100 Students’ Union members.
    
    
• You told us that you want to have elected leaders represent you in most forums but still want to have your say on what UWE Bristol students think
  • We are replacing the ‘Student Ideas’ policymaking process with a new system whereby students can submit ‘Proposals’ which can become ‘Positions’ or ‘Campaigning Priorities’ following scrutiny from Council and a Members’ vote (open to all students).

You can see our full proposed Articles of Association and Bye-Laws.