Durham Students Union

What Durham Students Union does

Durham Students' Union (Durham SU) is a registered charity (1145400) and company limited by guarantee (07689815) operating as the recognised students' union for Durham University. It is constitutionally independent from the university but co-funded by it, and serves the full Durham University student population (approximately 18,000 students) with an opt-out automatic membership model. The union is governed by a Board of Trustees comprising three elected Officer trustees, five student trustees, and five lay trustees, with day-to-day operations run from Dunelm House in Durham city centre.

Durham SU's core product surface is a student-facing service ecosystem: a Student Groups Platform supporting 300+ groups across academic, cultural, sporting, political, faith, and professional categories; an ASK SU advice and support knowledge base covering housing, finance, GDPR, and student group management; a Renting Help service (including Renters' Rights Act 2026 guidance); a £85,000 Belonging Fund for student-led projects; campaigns and activism resources; and elected Student Officer representation (President, Education Officer, Community Officer). The underlying technology stack is conventional and non-proprietary: a UnionCloud/MSL-hosted website, a helpdesk/ticketing system, Native.fm for ticketing, and Square for in-person card payments. No AI/ML capabilities are disclosed.

The business model is a non-profit charity funding model. Revenue is derived from university block grants and student activity fees (effectively mandatory membership with opt-out), supplemented by limited commercial activity such as advertising and ticket/stash sale processing fees. The union is not comparable to a commercial enterprise; it is a service-delivery organisation with a fixed, single-institution constituency.

Name

Durham Students Union

Legal name

Durham Students' Union

Website

https://durhamsu.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Durham Students' Union is a registered charity serving as the recognised students' union for Durham University, providing representation, advice, student group support, campaigns, and welfare services to approximately 18,000 Durham University students, funded via university grants and opt-out membership fees.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Student Union Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

College Access, Scholarships & Student Success Nonprofits (BPAGADAE)

Keywords

• Student representation services
• Student advice services
• Student group support
• Campus advocacy services
• Student welfare services

Headquarters

HQ city

Durham

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel

Revenue model

1. Student Membership (Opt-out): Durham Students' Union operates as a registered charity (1145400) with automatic membership for Durham University students. Students can opt out of membership. Revenue comes from student activity fees and university core funding.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Durham Students' Union is the official charity (1145400) representing Durham University students, delivering democratic representation, free welfare and housing advice, management of 300+ student groups, campaigns support, and a Belonging Fund of £85,000. Services are delivered free at point of use through the website (durhamsu.com), ASK SU knowledge base (ask.durhamsu.com), and the Dunelm House building.

Product overview

Durham Students' Union operates as a student-facing digital platform offering a unified ecosystem of services for over 18,000 Durham University students. The core offering includes the Student Groups Platform (supporting 300+ groups with event planning, finance, and compliance tools), ASK SU Knowledge Base (helpdesk and advice service), Renting Help (comprehensive housing guidance), Belonging Fund (£85,000 funding initiative), Campaigns support, and Student Officer Representation. The platform also provides governance documentation, ticket sales via Native.fm integration, and in-person payment processing via Square.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Durham UniversitycoreOthersDurham Students' Union is a legally separate organization from Durham University but receives core funding and operates in partnership with the university. The university provides IT infrastructure including @durham.ac.uk email addresses, but information held by DSU is not subject to Freedom of Information requests to the university. The union consults with university on student matters through the Student Consultation Framework.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Manchester Students' Union: The official students' union of the University of Manchester, a UK Russell Group university of comparable institutional scale to Durham University. Operates on the same MSL platform and offers the same core services (advice, representation, student groups, campaigns) to a similar large student population.
• University of Bristol Students' Union: The students' union of the University of Bristol, a UK Russell Group university with a comparable student body. Operates the same model of elected officers, student groups, advice services, and democratic governance structure.
• King's College London Students' Union: The students' union of King's College London, a UK Russell Group university with comparable operational scale. Provides directly comparable services including student representation, advice, and student group support.
• University of Edinburgh Students' Association: The students' association of the University of Edinburgh, another top UK Russell Group university with a comparable student population size. Provides directly comparable services including student representation, societies, advice, and welfare support through a charity structure.
• University of Sheffield Students' Union: The students' union of the University of Sheffield, another major UK research university of comparable scale. Provides directly comparable services including student advice, representation, societies, and operates on the same MSL platform.
• Oxford Students' Union: The students' union of the University of Oxford, a UK university comparable in prestige and scale to Durham. Provides similar representation, advice, and student group services, though Oxford's collegiate structure introduces some differences in operating model.
• UCL Students' Union: The students' union of University College London, a large London-based UK Russell Group university. Provides comparable services including advice, representation, student groups, and campaigns to a similarly large student population.
• University of Leeds Student Union: The students' union of the University of Leeds, a large UK research university with similar scale and demographic profile to Durham. Offers comparable services including representation, advice, student groups, and operates on the same UnionCloud/MSL platform.
• University of Warwick Students' Union: The students' union of the University of Warwick, a UK research university with a comparable student population. Offers the same suite of services including representation, advice, societies, and operates on the same MSL platform.
• University of Cambridge Students' Union: The students' union of the University of Cambridge, a UK university of prestigious standing comparable to Durham. Provides representation, advice, and student group services, although the Collegiate University structure creates some operational differences.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/durhamsu
• Facebookfacebook.com/durhamsu
• Instagraminstagram.com/durham.su

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Durham Students Union