Hi there, 

Welcome to the November edition of our Student Voice Bulletin! Each month, we’ll share key student insights and feedback, aiming to improve how we communicate and work together to enhance the student experience at Royal Holloway. In this bulletin, you'll find:

• Priority 8 Updates
• Speak Week 2025 Results
• Academic Representation Updates
• Upcoming Campaigns and Events
• Students' Union Executive Updates
• Freshers' Festival and Welcome Period Survey highlights

We hope you find this useful!

Student Voice Team @ RHSU

Sabbatical Officer Updates on Priority 8

The Sabbatical Officers have continued to work hard on their priorities throughout Term One, and they all recently published blogs over the last few weeks to share their progress with students. You can read about their work below.

VP Education, Matthew, ran two paid, in-person focus groups in mid-November to gain insight into the student experience around deadline stacking. Students across a variety of year groups, departments and from different Royal Holloway communities participated. Their comments will help inform recommendations to try and reduce deadline stacking within departments. 

SU President, Olivia, would like to thank all staff who contributed to the Community Cupboard Donation Drive on 12 November. We have already had to restock the cupboards, which shows the positive impact your donations had on students. You can donate year-round in the SU shop and the Library. 

If you want to learn more about current actions for the Priority 8, please take a look at our website. Each of the individual priorities has an action plan tracker, and we will continue to keep you updated on the work implementing these actions throughout the year.

Finally, our Leadership Elections are just around the corner! Election nominations will open mid-January so keep an eye out for the nominate a student form and get thinking about any students you think would make a good Sabbatical Officer candidate!

Speak Week 2025 Results

From 27 October – 2 November, we held Speak Week and asked students, ‘What issue around your student experience would you like to see prioritised by your sabbatical officers?’ We ran SU on Tour events in the library, at Market Day, out and about on campus. We also heard from students through our Instagram and website. At the end of the week we had a total of 336 responses which is comparable to last year's results. Check out what students said in the infographic below or read more about the Speak Week results on our website!

Feedback from Speak Week, the National Student Survey (NSS), Rate Your Union and the Academic Rep system inform the top 20 issues which will be on the ballot for the 2026 Leadership Elections for the next Priority 8. In March, students will vote for their next Sabbatical Officers and rank the issues they would like to see worked on. The eight issues with the most votes become the Priority 8 which the next Sabbatical Officers will work on during the 2026-27 academic year.

Academic Rep Updates and Upcoming Events

Academic Reps Term One Numbers

At present, we have 413 signed up to be an Academic Rep and 316 students completed training. We will re-open recruitment for January starters after the winter break. 

Poppy Coates - November's Rep of the month! 

Since term started this September, Poppy has been working hard in Psychology to organise chairs for each meeting, collecting feedback through custom feedback forms, and improving the visibility of Reps in the department. Read her full blog to see all the great work Poppy has been doing this year!

Upcoming December Campaigns and Events

Commuter Christmas Crafts

On Tuesday, 2 December from 12.00-14.00 in Tommy's Lounge our Commuting Students Community Officer, Delilah, will host a cosy winter social for commuter students to celebrate the end of a successful Term One. 

Care Experienced and Estranged Students Winter Social

On Thursday, 11 December from 14.00-16.00 the Students' Union will be hosting the Care Experienced & Estranged Students Winter Social. This event was organised by a student from that community, and we hope these students enjoy an afternoon social to connect and unwind before the end of term.

Term One Executive Minutes

Our Executives are committees of student representatives responsible for the development, scrutiny and maintenance of policy and plans in their area, identifying where work should be undertaken. Each Executive is chaired by a full-time Sabbatical Officer, supported by student representatives from student groups, student communities and our Academic Reps. 

Education Executive Highlights, 11 November 2025

• Major student concerns around deadline stacking, assessment overload, and inconsistent weightings.
• Representation structure needs strengthening in preparation for the transition from Schools to Faculties.
• Priority 8 updates covered timetabling, transport, food affordability, financial support, and parking.
• SU EDI Action Plan progressing with focus on Educate, Empower, Influence across all teams.
• London Campus engagement remains low, with calls for clearer information and more facilities.
• Assessment Review ongoing, with discussions on compressed modules, late exams, and reading-week inequalities.
• Academic Communities need clearer branding and stronger differentiation from societies and rep structures.
• School Reps request more support, including staff introductions, meet-and-mingles, and clearer handover processes.

You can read the full minutes here on our website.

Wellbeing, Community & Diversity, 12 November 2025

• Priority 8 updates focused on food affordability, halal provision, transport costs, and better bus alignment.
• Inclusivity Fund proposal highlighted gaps in support for inclusion-community and one-year students.
• Community Officers discussed clearer roles, workload, volunteer models, and recognition as part of the Democracy Review.
• Listening Circles planning raised questions around safety, facilitation, lived experience, and cross-community allyship.
• Budget to Bite campaign refined to include Ramadan-sensitive scheduling, foodbank partnerships, and commuter-friendly content.
• Equity Groups reinforced as key spaces for raising community concerns and ensuring consistent CO engagement.
• Safe Travels campaign expanded to include disability, safety, theft awareness, and commuter wellbeing.
• Administrative reminders covered expense processes, Sabbcast involvement, and Estranged Students Solidarity Week promotion.

You can read the full minutes here on our website. 

Societies, Sports & Opportunities, 19 November 2025

Due to the deadline for this bulletin the Executive minutes have not been published in time for circulation, however, they will be included in the December bulletin. 

Freshers' Festival and Welcome Week Survey Highlights

The Students' Union ran a survey after Freshers' Festival during the University Welcome Period. We were asked to include some questions around University and Students' Union pre-arrival communications and students' experiences with attending University events. We have shared a summary of the results for all the questions around the University's Welcome Period from 156 student survey responses. 

Pre-Arrival Communications: 75% of respondents felt the University and Students' Union's pre-arrivals communications helped them feel ready to start as a student at Royal Holloway. 70% felt they knew what to expect (e.g. moving in, Welcome Week, commuting, Freshers' Festival). Commuter and international students rated communications slightly more positively than UK and non-commuter students. Respondents commented in the attached free-text boxes that emails and Instagram posts were detailed and welcoming in tone. 

Improvements around University and Students' Union communications survey respondents would like to see are shared below: 

• Clearer, centralised information that avoids multiple links.
• More detailed information about Moodle, events and support services.
• Easier website navigation. 

University Welcome Events: School and department inductions were the most attended activities, while Hall Life and the Student Lounge saw lower attendance. Satisfaction was highest for School/Department inductions and department events, with most activities rated positively overall. The part-time jobs fair had the lowest satisfaction at 68%. When students were asked to explain their rating, recurring comments mentioned that talks were informative but repetitive, some events felt cramped, students wanted more practical information and guidance (e.g. Moodle), and Hall Life events were described as fun and welcoming. 

Key Takeaways from the Welcome Period questions highlighted: 

• Generally high satisfaction with both communications and welcome events
• Information clarity and accessibility remain key improvement areas
• Commuter and international students felt particularly supported
• Students want one clear, central source for all event and arrival information
• Engagement and tone of communications could be more consistent and enthusiastic