UK universities have a statutory obligation to support their students in the establishment of some form of Students' Union (sometimes also called a "Students' Association" or "Guild of Students", and, in the Scottish Ancients, a Students' Representative Council). These associations are usually members of the National Union of Students of the United Kingdom and/ or their local NUS area organisation.
Whether or not universities actually do conform to such statutory obligations, and if, for example, the code of practice of the NUS is followed when determining the make-up of such bodies is a hotly contested and ambiguous matter. There is no real or well-implemented vetting service used to ensure that, for example, Students' Union Presidents are fairly (or non-discriminatingly) selected - or that a minimal, standardised and regional method of ensuring an allocation of annual university funding is directed towards such students' union bodies.