We recently received an email from someone who asked whether or not some shops only accepted NUS cards when giving discounts, and this was our response;

“Hello, thanks for the email. The thing is, the NUS actively discourage HMV, Topshop and other affiliated partners from offering discounts to students without valid NUS cards. They are discriminating against Universities and students who choose not to be part of the NUS (National Union of Students) - They lead people to believe they are not a student unless they are a part of the NUS, which is wrong, and thus many student unions have stood up to this monopolistic practice.

At Stuwd, we believe people who are in full time education are students, whether they are part of the NUS or not, and thus we try to emphasise that if students are refused a discount because they don’t have an NUS card, or an NUS extra card (£10!!?) that they should stand up for themselves and argue their case and try to blag their discount. ”

Now, don’t get us wrong, the NUS is great, and we are glad is exists. But we don’t agree with their practices on trying to prevent non-NUS students from receiving discounts from the major highstreet stores.

Stuwd is a new service, and we are still learning, but as we grow we hope to have more leverage with the major companies and we hope to be able to offer some absolutely amazing never-seen-before student discounts in the near future. So stay tuned, tell your friends, and have some faith