Oxford University Student Union


The Oxford University Student Union is the students' union of the University of Oxford. It is better known in Oxford under the branding Oxford SU or by its previous name of OUSU. It exists to represent Oxford University students in the university's decision-making, to act as the voice for students in the national higher education policy debate, and to provide direct services to the student body.

Early history

In 1961, the University of Oxford Proctors banned the student magazine The Isis from publishing reviews of lectures. Students resisted, and legally incorporated the Oxford University Student Representative Council for the first time. They then agitated for formal university recognition of the OUSRC, and petitioned the United Kingdom's Privy Council, asking the government to amend the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge Act 1859. Rather than risk having its hand forced by legislation, the university relented, and formally recognised the OUSRC in 1970.
The OUSRC adopted its contemporary constitution in 1974, changing its name to the Oxford University Student Union, or OUSU. OUSU rebranded itself as Oxford SU in 2017 to improve its image among students at Oxford.

Structure

Membership

Membership at the Oxford University Student Union reflects the university's collegiate structure, operating on two interconnected levels: individual student membership and a federal body of common rooms.
All students are automatically enrolled as full members of Oxford SU, granting them the right to participate in all SU democratic processes, including elections and the Conference of Common Rooms. Any student may choose to opt out of their SU membership at any time.
The SU's federal nature is embodied by the Conference of Common Rooms , which serves as the primary democratic forum for the university's Junior Common Rooms and Middle Common Rooms. Each common room holds membership in the Conference and sends a nominated representative to vote on its behalf. A common room can democratically decide to disaffiliate from the CCR. Such a decision does not affect the individual SU membership of that college's students, who retain their personal membership rights unless they opt out individually.

Finances

Oxford SU manages several commercial activities. Its most prominent event is the annual Freshers' Fair, a multi-day event held at the start of the academic year in the Examination Schools, which introduces new students to the university's many clubs and societies. The SU also engages in publishing, such as student handbooks.
Historically, the SU published The Oxford Student newspaper. However, as of Michaelmas 2025, the newspaper will transition to become an independent publication, with the SU providing financial support during its first year of independence. The SU also supports Oxide Radio, an editorially independent student radio station that broadcasts online.

Governance

Historically, Oxford SU was led by an executive committee of six full-time, salaried sabbatical officers. The sovereign body of the Student Union was the Oxford SU Council, a large assembly of over 150 voting members which included SU executive officers, divisional representatives, and multiple representatives from each affiliated JCR and MCR, as well as representatives from liberation campaigns. This structure underwent significant changes following a governance review initiated in the 2021/22 academic year. This review, combined with a subsequent "transformation period" in 2024 aimed at addressing structural and financial challenges, reshaped the SU's governance.
A primary outcome of this transformation was the replacement of the SU Council with a new primary democratic body, the Conference of Common Rooms . The transformation also whittled down the number of salaried officers. The previous six sabbatical roles were abolished and replaced with a new "flat" leadership structure of four "Major Office Holders" who serve as Sabbatical Officer Trustees. As of the 2025-26 academic year, these four roles are:
  • President for Communities and Common Rooms
  • President for Undergraduates
  • President for Postgraduates
  • President for Welfare, Equity & Inclusion

    Campaigns and Representation

Under its new governance structure, Oxford SU's campaigns are organised into a single category known as Representative Committees . These RepComs are official forums designed for specific student communities to deal with matters of shared interest, gather the views of students within that community, and provide student-led direction for the SU's work.
While RepComs can submit motions to the Conference of Common Rooms, they do not have a direct vote in the CCR itself. Any policy passed by a RepCom only becomes official SU-wide policy if it is also passed by the CCR. Each RepCom is chaired by a relevant part-time Equity Officer.
As of June 2025, the official Representative Committees are:
  • Class RepCom
  • Disabled Students' RepCom
  • LGBTQ+ RepCom
  • International Students' RepCom
  • Black and Ethnic Minorities Student RepCom
  • Suspended Students' RepCom
  • '''Women*s RepCom'''

    Protests and occupations

Shortly before the formation of OUSU in 1974, agitation commenced within certain sections of the student body for a Central Students Union building by the Student Representative Council, forerunner of OUSU. The university feared that the existence of such facilities would be used for the promotion of student activism. In 1972, during the miners strike, students had offered their rooms to miners picketing Didcot Power Station and had supported staff who went on strike at St Anne's College.
On 5 November 1973, an open meeting called for direct action against the university on the issue of a Central Students Union building. Later that day students marched to the Examination Schools and commenced a sit in, which lasted seven days. The University Registrar sent an open letter to all Junior Members threatening proceedings in the High Court and disciplinary action against those who could be identified. The occupation was ended by students themselves after the university obtained a writ of possession.
OUSU was recognised by the university in early January 1974, and a meeting was held on 29 January with the Vice-Chancellor and others. The Vice-Chancellor made it clear that the university was facing deep cuts and there was no money for a CSU project.
The university was expecting a second occupation and contingency plans were drawn up. The Bursar of St John's College wrote to the President of the Junior Common Room on 11 February noting, "all the talk that is going on at the present time about occupation", and stating that in future the Bursary would be kept locked. It was reported that over £9,000 worth of damage had been done to the Examination Schools during the occupation the previous November. On 7 February an Extraordinary OUSU Council Meeting was held. Sue Lukes, David Aaronovitch and others attempted to defeat a motion stating that it was the position of OUSU not to support any occupation of university premises in furtherance of the CSU campaign. When this motion was put, Lukes and Aaronovitch resigned, the former making a speech condemning Council.
The following day, an anonymous flyer was circulated, headed 'Remember 5 November', it gave warning to the university that "You have had three months and your time is up. Negotiations have failed, talking has failed, OUSU has failed. Come to the Open Meeting on Monday night in the Union Hall. And don't forget your sleeping bag!"
At 9.15 am on Wednesday 13 February approximately 50 or 60 students entered the Indian Institute building in Catte Street shouting that they were occupying it and demanding that the people working there should leave. The 22 staff inside stayed at their desks while the students milled around after first closing the doors. What happened next was the subject of bitter dispute. The university claimed that at around 11.30 am, about 50 volunteers, 'relatively elderly gentlemen' working in the Clarendon Building decided out of concern for their colleagues to enter the building. A secretary let them in through a rear window, and once inside they confronted the intruders, who left in groups through the front door. The spokesman for the university insisted there was no violence, though it was conceded that there was some scrummaging and, 'ears may have been twisted'.
Those supporting the occupiers claimed that the university had set the Oxford University Police upon them who, goaded on by the Proctors, perpetrated acts of violence against the students, and encouraged the police, who were outside, to wade in also. The supporters of the occupiers asserted it was a 'pre-planned and ugly piece of violence'. It was alleged that at least one of the 'relatively elderly gentlemen' was in fact a serving police officer out of uniform, who was identified at a subsequent demonstration.
The university identified those it believed to have been the ringleaders and moved swiftly against them. Eighteen students were charged with an offence under the University Statutes and were required to attend at the Proctor's Office in cap and gown on 21 February under threat of being rusticated if they did not appear. The eighteen included Sue Lukes and another student from Somerville College, three from Magdalen and two each from Pembroke, St John's and Balliol. They were committed for trial at a Disciplinary Court on 11 March, during the Easter vacation. The chairman of the Court was Barry Nicholas, a Professor of Comparative Law. All who attended agreed that the trial was a travesty of justice. Mike Sullivan wrote an open letter describing how the Court decided every procedural point against the defendants; several were expelled for making objections, including Tariq Ali who was acting as a McKenzie friend to some of the defendants. Gordon Day, President of St John's Junior Common Room reported that even Andrew Turek, an ex-President of the university Monday Club and a virulent supporter of disciplinary action being taken against those who occupied University buildings, described the proceedings as a 'farce' and labelled the University Marshall, Mr Skinner, as 'a maniac who should not be allowed on University property'.
On the testimony, mainly, of a University Police Officer, Philip Berry, all of the defendants were convicted of being present at the occupation. It was admitted in Court that the Proctors were present together with other 'employees' of the university and an 'independent contractor' with two of his men. It was conceded that the 'occupation' amounted to nothing more than possession of the stairs and corridors and no violence was at any time offered to University staff. Nevertheless, the eighteen defendants were all sent down with the sentence suspended for one year. A subsequent appeal by thirteen of the defendants failed.
The CSU campaign continued with declining support through the latter half of the 1970s.