Guild Elections are our yearly elections process where you vote in your 24/25 Full-Time Officer (FTOs) team.
The Guild impact your Exeter experience through running events, our Advice team, supporting societies, influencing the Universities academic & pastoral approach, supporting campaigns & activism, our GIAG programme and so much more!
Your FTOs hold influential positions at the Guild and University and use this to lobby for the changes you want to see. It’s essential to vote for those you think are best for the job! Could this be you?
The Guild Full-Time Officer Team are 5 elected students who work as employees of the Guild to represent all students and influence change across the Guild, University and City.
Officers act as trustees of the Guild, help decide our direction as an organisation, and represent the voice of over 35,000 students in high-level decision making at the Guild and University.
The Officer roles are full-time, paid roles, open to all students. As it’s a full-time job, the 24/25 Officer team will be paid over £25k for the year, alongside 6 weeks annual leave + bank holidays!
Previous FTOs have:
To ensure that all candidates get the most out of Elections, we provide training and guidance for all stages of the Elections process.
Throughout the Elections process, all candidates will need to follow the Elections Rules, this ensures that the Elections are free and fair. You can read the rules below, all candidates must attend a candidate briefing where these rules are discussed in detail.
If you believe that the rules have been breached, or have a complaint relating to Elections, you can submit a complaint below.
Simple, you nominate yourself for a role, tell us why you’re a good fit & get students to vote for you.
Applications open on the 1 Dec and close on 10 Jan.
To apply you’ll need to:
Once your application is approved & you've attended a Candidate Briefing, you can start digitally campaigning. Physical campaigning can start during vote week 29 Jan - 1 Feb & results will be announced on 2 Feb.
A: All voting is done digitally through the Guild's website. Give your university email address and we'll send you a link to your voting page. If you have any problems, get in touch digital@exeterguild.com or come and find us in the Greenhouse (Devonshire House).
Once on the voting page, you'll see a ballot with each of the candidates for that role. You select them in order of preference (the top preference being the candidate you most want to win). Once you're happy with your ranking, you submit your vote. You can now do the same with the other roles.
The Guild uses a voting system which means you can rank the candidates in order of preference. This voting system is designed to produce a winner who has a majority (over half) of the votes - not simply more votes than anyone else. If everyone's first preference vote doesn't produce a winner, then second preference votes are factored in. This is different from the 'first past the post' system used in other UK elections (where you just vote for one person, and the person with the most votes wins). You don't have to rank all the candidates, indeed you can only select one preference if you wish.
Each of our elections has a 'candidate' RON - re-open nominations. If RON 'wins' the election, it means the election will be run again.
That is entirely up to you. It is your free choice. You can read the statements the candidates have given to help you choose. You won't get in trouble for who you vote for. You don't need to tell anyone who you have voted for - this is a secret ballot. If someone (maybe a candidate or campaigner) is pressuring you to vote, inform the Guild immediately.
Voting is completely optional. However, we think it is really important that as many students as possible help select next year's officers! This is your chance to shape what the Guild will look like next year!
The Guild Elections are overseen by a Returning Officer (a staff member or external expert) who makes sure that they are fair, transparent and successful. You can email elections@exeterguild.com at any time to ask a question, voice a concern or report an unfair situation.
If you are successful in winning the election for a full-time role, you will begin the role on 24 June 2024. You will have a handover period with the current officers and then begin a summer of induction, training, planning, and networking. Don’t worry, we’ll be with you every step of the way!
If you’re successful in winning the election, you will begin a full-time paid role. You will be paid over £25k for the year, alongside 6 weeks annual leave + bank holidays! So while you won’t eligible for student finance or any bursaries, you will have a full-time income.
If you are an Exeter studying on placement at Truro then just log in to the Guild website as normal. Exeter students studying on Penryn campus can vote but will need to set up a Cornwall account. If you’re represented by Falmouth & Exeter Students’ Union, you can also vote in their elections at the end of February.