Being "opted in" to your Students’ Union

All students at BU are automatically members of the Students’ Union at Bournemouth University (SUBU) unless they choose to opt-out of membership, i.e. decide not to be a SUBU member.

In this section we provide information about SUBU and what SUBU membership provides. We then give you an opportunity to decide whether you want to be a member of SUBU. (You will be able change your decision on membership at any time). We also explain when BU will share information about its students with SUBU.

Welcome from SUBU!

We are independent from the University and are run by students for students. We support, represent and empower you - our students – to make your vision a reality. Best of all, membership is free!

We provide opportunities for you to have ownership over your university experience by representing your views to the University and other stakeholders such as the local community and council. We also provide opportunities for you to create lifelong friends and develop new skills. We host a wide range of clubs and societies, run events, campaigns and provide value-for-money in our shop, cafes, bar and nightclub (subject to public health rules of course!).

To find out more about us visit subu.org.uk or find us in The Student Centre, Talbot Campus and Bournemouth Gateway Building, Lansdowne.

Information-sharing with SUBU: all BU students

Full details about information sharing with SUBU are in our Student Privacy Notice

BU students may need to log into the SUBU website even if they are not a SUBU member, e.g. to register for a SUBU event. Log-in to SUBU requires your BU email address. Through an automatic link between the BU and SUBU systems, BU will provide SUBU with your name, BU email address, student ID and Faculty if you access the SUBU website (even if are not a SUBU member). This confirms your student status, so that students who are not SUBU members can access events and services organised by SUBU. It also enables SUBU to confirm the eligibility of students to vote in elections.

If you keep your membership (i.e. you do not opt-out below), the University will share information with SUBU to enable them to administer your membership, carry out other core SUBU activities and send you relevant communications. The data shared includes your name, email address, date of birth, gender, student ID number and details of your course. We automatically update SUBU on any changes to these details. SUBU’s IT systems are provided by a third party company which will have access to your data purely for data processing/system management purposes. BU shares data with SUBU and its processor because it is necessary for SUBU’s legitimate interests.

What happens if I decide to become a SUBU member? What happens if I stay opted out of SUBU membership?

The law says that you cannot be unfairly disadvantaged by a decision to opt out of students’ union membership, and this means that many SUBU facilities and activities are open to non-members. However there are benefits and opportunities which are only available to SUBU members and not to other BU students. Click below for further information about SUBU membership and what happens if you opt-out.

How to opt in

To access SUBU services, you will need to make sure that you are opted in to SUBU membership via your MyHub account. 

Once logged in, you will see ‘SUBU Membership’ listed under the ‘My Details’ tab on the left-hand side of the page.

Once you have clicked the link, you will be taken to the page below where you can check your current SUBU membership status.

To opt-in to SUBU membership, please select ‘I DO want to be a SUBU member and access the benefits of membership’ and click ‘Save

Opt in to SUBU

You may need to wait 24 hours until your membership status is updated on our systems.  

If you have followed all the steps above and are still unable to stand or vote in an Election, please email subudemocracy@bournemouth.ac.uk.