Students’ rights and student influence

All students and PhD students at Stockholm University (SU) have rights and obligations based on their role as a student at SU. One of them is the right to influence the education and the study situation. As your student union, SUS helps to ensure that the university acts in accordance with your rights and supports students who want to exercise the right to student influence.  
 
On this page you will find information about what rights you have as a student, what student influence is, how SUS works with student influence and how you can influence your study time.    
 
If you have questions about your rights as a student or PhD student or about student influence, you can contact SUS' ombuds.

What rights do students and PhD students have at SU?

Students and PhD students have many rights during their studies, which are regulated in the law and local regulations at SU.   
 
As a student, you have for example the right to:  

  • That the course schedule is available no later than four weeks before the start of the course. In the schedule, you must be able to see all the moments and examination elements during the course. Examinations or mandatory elements should not be added during the course.  

  • To have your exam or assignment corrected within 15 working days. In special cases, the teacher may be given more time to correct an exam, but after a prefect's decision.  
     

As a PhD student, you have for example the right to:  

  • Change supervisors without giving a reason for that. 

  • The extension of employment for assignments as student representative.

You can read more about your rights and what support SUS’ Ombuds can offer regarding your rights in our FAQ.

What is student influence?  

Student influence is part of your rights as a student. Influence can be exercised by individual students who, for example, contact their teacher or fill out a course evaluation, but also by appointed student representatives in groups at the university.
 
Students are therefore entitled to places in the approx. 350 groups that exist at the university where decisions regarding education are prepared and made, for example, groups such as the Department Board or the Program Council. In those groups, issues such as the budget and syllabuses for courses at the department are discussed and decided. As a student representative in one of these groups, you can provide valuable input based on your experiences as a student. 

“Students have the right to be represented when decisions are made, or preparations are made that have significance for the education or the students’ situation.”
— The Higher Education Ordinance, chapter 2 section 7

How does SUS work with student influence?  

At SUS, we believe that the students should choose who will represent them in the role of student representative. That's why we organize student influence through councils, groups of students close to the education, who elect student representatives. A student representative is thus elected by students who are part of student or PhD councils, faculty councils or a central council, and therefore represents the students at their department, their faculty or at the entire university. 
 
At SUS, there are 84 councils that work to make your study time better and safer. You will find contact details for your particular council below. 

Student Councils PhD Student Councils Faculty Councils Central Councils

  • As a student at SU, you can exercise your right to student influence through a variety of ways. Below are four steps on how you can proceed: 

    1. Always use your right to fill in course evaluations. Course evaluations are a way to directly influence a course.   

    1. Vote for the parties or candidates that represent your views and values ​​in the annual student union election.   

    1. Contact your council when you have opinions about your studies or when there is a discrepancy in the rules.   

    1. Become a member of the council's board and/or become a student representative at your department, faculty or at a central level. Contact your council directly or get in touch with us and we will guide you.

    • An opportunity to really influence your and others' education  

    • Valuable experiences to add to your CV, evidenced by a certificate from SUS  

    • Opportunity to make contacts at SU and learn more about how the university (and an authority) works  

    • Renumeration for the assignment