Guidance to facilitate electoral registration of students
This guidance from the Office for Students offers guidance to higher education providers for facilitating electoral registration in England.
This guidance was written in September 2018 and came into effect in August 2019.
All higher education providers in England registered with the Office for Students are required to comply with this guidance as one of their conditions of registration. It sets out how they should facilitate, in cooperation with Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), the electoral registration of students, including compliance with requests from EROs for information about students which the ERO requires for the purposes of maintaining the electoral register.
Using a mixed-method evaluation approach, the Cabinet Office identified examples across the higher education sector in encouraging student electoral registration. These examples were collated following a sector-wide survey and interviews with both Electoral Registration Officers and education providers on their successful engagement with students.
Evaluation of the guidance by Cabinet Office is ongoing. Changes to the guidance may be made if necessary.
Who can use it?
The guidance is for higher education providers in England to facilitate student electoral registration. However, Electoral Registration Officers across Scotland, Wales and Ireland may also find the case studies useful in providing insight into successful approaches electoral administrators and higher education providers have taken to promote student electoral registration.
Share your experiences
If you use the case studies for your democratic engagement activities we would like to hear about your experience. Please send feedback and any pictures to DemocraticEngagement@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.