Are you Student of the Year?

The deadline for nominations has been extended to Tuesday 13 May so if you've been thinking about nominating yourself or someone else, it's not too late! Ten award categories are open to individuals, students' union or student media. You can nominate anyone for these categories, or even yourself.

Full details of categories, prizes and nominations are available at www.nusawards.org.uk

Support a woman's right to choose

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill is hitting parliament in May. There are opportunities and there are serious threats to a woman’s right to choose. This is the biggest threat to a woman's access to safe legal abortion in a generation. The message we want to send to MPs is simple – don’t attack the 24-week time limit and offer full access to women for safe, legal abortion on the NHS.

NUS is pro-choice and the organisation’s stance, set at women’s conference and supported by the disabled students’ campaign, is to defend and extent access to abortion. No matter where you are, you can support this cause by writing to your MP or lobbying at parliament on the day of the vote.

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Listening to students

Paul Ramsden, Chief Executive of the Higher Education Academy, has been asked to conduct a review into teaching and the student experience by Secretary of State John Denham. Given the importance of the learner voice to NUS' education campaign, this is a great opportunity for you, if you're a student in higher education, to make your voice heard. Time is, however, short with the responses due in by the end of June.

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Write to Peter Mandelson and help end discrimination in Europe

Within the next couple of months, the European Commission and the European Council will decide the fate of an EU directive that protects individuals against discrimination. There are, however, signs that sexual orientation will no longer be included as grounds for discrimination.

NUS LGBT is campaigning for this directive to be extended to cover all grounds for discrimination. Not only will this will protect the rights of LGBT students in the UK, but it will extend the freedoms that we enjoy to the larger European community.

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Winning a fairer funding system

"Next year’s review of higher education funding will be our first chance since 2004 to fight the immoral and unsustainable top-up fees system, and we must be prepared for the battle that lies ahead."

These are the words of Wes Streeting, NUS Vice President (Education) and President-elect of NUS, in his open letter to students on the subject of higher education funding and why NUS has changed its policy.

Next year will see a review of the HE funding system and NUS is going to be at the heart of the debate.

Explains Wes: "We want the forthcoming review to be about finding an alternative to top-up fees that is fairer for students, but still generates the kind of income the sector so badly needs. At the same time, we need to find ways to restrain and reverse the market logic that has been allowed to run riot within government policy during the last few years."

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2007/08 NUS Extra and NUS Associate Cards available now

Get the right student card for you. Find out more on in our online cards guide

NUS Extra is the definitive student discount card with a range of exclusive discounts, offers and competitions designed to make student life more exciting, more memorable and more rewarding.

Available to students through your students' union at university or college.

Available to school students studying year 12 or 13 or professional students the NUS Associate Card is a nationally recognised form of student ID for those who do not have access to a students' union.

Good advice comes straight from horsesmouth.co.uk

NUS is working with horsesmouth, an innovative online mentoring site.

You’ll be able to login to www.horsesmouth.co.uk to give and receive confidential advice, communicating with people all around the UK. Senior NUS staff have enlisted as mentors, and will eventually be joined by other NUS members.

For more details visit www.horsesmouth.co.uk or, to sign up to wear the NUS badge while using horsesmouth, register through the NUS page.

Final year student? Got an opinion on your course? Want to help your students’ union fight for improvements?

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