Your Semester Wrapped 2025

This year at Queen’s Students’ Union has been one for the record books- with plenty of volunteering, newfound passions and impactful changes achieved by you- Queen’s students.

Before we recap we want to say a huge thanks to you! Your reviews of us meant that this year for the first time ever, we have secured the title of No.1 Students’ Union in the UK at the WhatUniAwards!

But awards aside, our purpose remains the same: to support you throughout your time at Queen’s.

So whether you’ve led societies, run campaigns, volunteered, attended events, used our services, or just found a space to be yourself – you make this place what it is- and the proof is below!

Here is your full 2025 recap of the SU this semester:

Clubs and Societies Big Wins

So many of you all got involved in clubs and societies this year with 18,496 memberships across over 260 clubs & societies (Clubs: 5,206, Societies: 13,290), making memberships this year the highest ever recorded in a single academic year!
Men’s Soccer Club has taken the crown this year for most memberships with 357 members while Law Society was the top Society of the Year with 364 members.
There has been 10 amazing new clubs & societies proposals ratified by the Student Council. From the Racial Equity Society to the Latin American Society and so much more meaning there is now even more diverse clubs & societies to choose from next year.
This year also marked the launch of our very first Varsity event against Ulster University! Our Archery, Badminton, Fencing, Women’s and Men’s Football, Netball, Swimming, Women’s and Men’s Volleyball clubs went head to head with their Ulster counterparts. Over 1,000 students got involved in the varsity buzz and we successfully claimed the trophy with a 8-1 win for Queen’s University.
The SU Awards also came back this year and it was bigger and better than ever with over 150 nominations. Congrats to our winners: Scream Queens Society, Walkie Talkie Girlies, Indonesian Society, Aerospace Society, Musical Theatre Society, Snooker & Pool Club, Dance Club and Tennis Club!

Engaging with the Local Community

So many of you stepped up this year and devoted your time to helping others, here is how you made a difference.

140 of you volunteered weekly in 16 local homework clubs to support children in areas of educational disadvantage across Belfast. Your support not only helped to boost their confidence but it also helped make a difference to their learning and future educational opportunities.
447 students showed the local community some love helping to deliver a range of projects from sustainability to community regeneration, from pallet painting to the Big Spring Clean there has been so much to be proud of.
QUB RAG raised a fantastic £6,700 for local charities Carers NI and Nexus NI. Festive coffee mornings, dRAG events and so much more took place this year to support these two amazing charities.

Student Business Success

This year our student entrepreneurs have been thinking BIG with their ideas, and with the support of our SU Enterprise team, we have so much to be proud of!

Over 120 students accessed free 1-to-1 business advice and 5x scholarships have been awarded for a Year in Enterprise to help students work on their businesses full-time on their placement year.
25 students graduated from InnovateHer, our revamped residential programme designed to empower women through entrepreneurship. The Residential took place in February, with each participant receiving a Future-Ready Award upon graduation of the programme.
QUB Dragons’ Den returned with 13 finalists pitching for a slice of the £25K prize pot on the Mandela Hall stage. The panel consisted of a range of representatives from sponsors and the local business community including QUBIS, Hill Vellacott, MCS, Tughans and Linkubator.
There have been so many success stories to celebrate this year: QUB start-ups Rephobia and Vibrotect came 1st and 3rd place in the Catalyst Co-Founders Programme, while three of our student founders reached the national final of the prestigious Enactus Spark competition, with one of them – Abi Way – taking away the top prize of £1000 to develop her charity concept, Boomerang.
Four Queen’s students were also recognised on the Belfast Telegraph’s 30 Under 30 list and collectively, students secured over £200k in funding from Innovate UK, Techstart, SWEF, and Invest NI.

Support For Students

This year as always we have been committed to creating a Union that supports your wellbeing, empowers your voice, and advocates for real change. Here’s how we’ve been doing just that:

We have been helping students tackle the cost of living crisis by providing students with free breakfasts in February and free meals during exam season with approximately 11,000 free meals being provided for students throughout 24/25.
Our Student Pantry has had over 13,000 visits since September 2024.
The Advice team has been here to help with over 1,500 students supported this year. From academic offences and AI concerns to unpaid accommodation fees, the team has been advising students every step of the way.
Your Student Officers, in partnership with your national union NUS-USI, have successfully worked together to block the proposed rise in NI Undergraduate tuition fees.
We hosted our very own Housing Fair in February 2025 with over 250 students attending with 15 external stakeholders, including Belfast City Council and Housing Rights.
Through our Mental Health and Wellbeing team, we’ve been working hard to improve mental health support, alongside continued partnership with Student Minds, the UK’s student mental health charity.
We have been busy making strides to achieve our Drug and Alcohol Impact Programme Accreditation, through pop-up events during Freshers and St. Patrick’s Day as well as collaborating with QUB Wellbeing and QUB Accommodation teams on the “Your Safety Matters” Campaign.
Over 200 of you took part in University Mental Health Day and our weekly SU Activity Hour sessions drew over 1,000 students into themed wellness events, from sensory and nature to self care and creativity.

Big Turnout in our SU Election

We had a massive voter turnout this year with 5,397 of you voting in this year’s SU Elections making it the second highest turnout ever. We had a record breaking 43 nominations for full-time student officer roles and your new Student Officer Team is ready to go in 2025-26: