Arts University Plymouth is an independent university-sector Higher Education (HE) provider located in Plymouth in South West England. The former Plymouth College of Art was officially granted university status in 2022. In April 2019 the specialist college was awarded taught degree awarding powers (TDAP) by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA), granting the institution the authority to award and accredit its own BA (Hons) degrees and Masters awards.
Arts University Plymouth Students’ Union, usually abbreviated “AUP:SU” is based at the Tavistock Place campus. It was established in 1998. Each year, students elect a paid Student Union President who will represent them for the following year, along with a team of voluntary Student Union Executive Committee positions. The Union offers a range of services (such as the Student Union Food Bank) and a number of events throughout the year, including Freshers.
The current Student Union President is Harriet Moore, who was initially elected for 2020/21 and re-elected for a second term of office for 2021/22, after being a Student Ambassador for the College for 3 years and Marketing and Enterprise Lead for 2 years.
In 2021, Arts University Plymouth Students’ Union (AUP:SU) won Best Campaign Supporting Student Wellbeing at the 2021 Think Student Awards, beating leading international universities to be selected as the winner by the Student Pulse panel of 40,000 students.