UBU Council
UBU is the University of Bradford Union of Students — the organisation that represents & supports students. It's a student-led organisation, meaning your ideas and needs come first. We have a leadership team elected annually by the students, from among the students. Every student has a stake in UBU, and we welcome you to get involved in our decision-making process, and to be part of the services and opportunities we provide!
As a volunteer you automatically become eligible to start your journey in qualifying for one of our special Student Leader Awards at our UBIES event and if you complete 25 hours of volunteering (must be registered with UBU) you can also obtain a HEAR award
The volunteers and 4 full-time sabbaticals on the Council are mostly elected in the spring of the preceding academic year, but there are usually several places also filled by a top-up election in September/October if there are any vacancies.
These leaders form our Council, and decide on our political direction. These are campaigning roles as well as being representative.
Some of the Council members represent sports clubs and activity groups (societies), as well as school representatives, these are elected via their respective assemblies.
UBU Council Members 2025/2026
UBU Council Dates 2025/2026 - 11.9.2025, 14.19.2025, 20.1.2026, 10.2.2026, 14.4.2026, 12.5.2026
UBU General Meeting (GM) 2025 - 11.11.2025, 5pm, Horton Barn Lecture Theatre
UBU Annual General Meeting (AGM) 2026 - 24.3.2026, 5pm, Horton Barn Lecture Theatre
Motions
Anyone can put an idea to UBU Council through a motion. Certain motions may be sent by them for wider discussion at a General Meeting.
To understand how to create an effective motion, please email or visit UBU where the Council Advisory Committee or UBU staff will work with you to gather evidence, build a team of volunteers, and arrive at a series of resolutions that UBU can effectively work towards and achieve. Then your motion goes to a Council meeting to be debated — as the proposer, you get to speak in this debate. It will be democratically voted on by the Council members, who are elected by you, the students, each year. After this, if approved, it becomes our policy for five years, and we try to take actions to achieve its aims.
You can discuss a proposed motion by contacting UBU. There is a deadline for submission to meetings, so we urge you to get in touch well before that so we can help you as described above. Motions must have a proposer and seconder, and fifteen "assenters" (who agree to it being discussed but need not necessarily agree with the content). All must be current UBU students and provide their UB number.
Motions
A motion gives members a formal way to shape an organisation’s policies. It might express a shared belief that guides future campaigning, or it might propose a specific action the organisation should take. Once a motion is approved, it becomes UBU policy for five years, and the UBU Executive Team is responsible for working toward the action it sets out. If you would like a copy of a passed motion from the policy list please email UBU
A motion gets presented to Council, is debated and voted on, according to standard procedures. These involve speeches for and against, and sometimes a question and answer session with the proposer. How to Write a Motion Motion Template
UBU Council is part of our Constitution and has it's own Bylaws which can be viewed here: UBU Governance