Student society field trip & international process

SHU is publically funded & a charity in its own right. SHU funds societies with limitations. Trips with ticket sales should break even as any profit remains with SHU. Please discuss options to achieve break even with the employability team

  1. Society leads or events committee discuss initial ideas with academic leads and employability team at least 16 weeks prior to the trip.Society lead or events committee lead sets up meeting with the employability team to discuss ideas around what they are hoping to achieve. Plus discuss destination, flights, accommodation, visas, schedule of events, advertising, agree to plan, timeline & costing. Think about deposits to be paid and when plus the final bill to be paid prior to the trip.
  1. Please be aware that all international students must be advised to attend the International office for advice on Visas when booking onto overseas trips. Visas vary for the nationality and destination country.
  1. Society leads or events committee to get quotes from preferred supplier of SHU, we recommend STA travel & Study Link. (See appendix 3) and discuss the best package options (including insurance). (Please note: The university policy is that payments take up to 30 days to be processed. The ticket money needs to be collected 4 weeks in advance of the trip in its entirety. Contract and T&C's must not be signed and some company payment arrangements may differ!!)
  1. Please note that for society events, non-mandatory excursions (not required /related to passing course), day trips & outings are subject to VAT at standard rate of 20%. Income received for ticketed events will be net of VAT e.g. £100 ticket sold - income received net of VAT £80. This should be considered when costing events to determine ticket prices/ student contributions. Society leads can choose to incorporate 20% uplift in ticket prices to pass on the VAT charge or absorb the hit, but it is important to consider this in relation to the overall society budget for the year.
  1. Society leads or events committee meet with the employability team to discuss the ticket prices, accommodation, insurance and contract. The employability team and finance will then verify the contract and this will be signed by the budget holder no later than 12 weeks prior to the trip. Insurance must be included in the quote. If no contract deemed necessary from the tour operator then T&C's of payment arrangements and cancelation policy must be present.
  1. Students are also now covered under the University's travel policy - their cover is for Medical Expenses Only. It is the responsibility of the organiser to ensure that adequate insurance cover has been arranged for the party travelling abroad. Students MUST ensure that they have their own travel insurance for trips which should be included in the package. The academic lead will also need to complete a university risk assessment for all trip s and offsite events.
  1. Deposit to be paid via the employability team purchase card to secure the trip. Only when money is collected to cover the cancellation costs.Please discuss timescales of paying the deposit.
  1. Employability team to support society with promotional material and advertising of the event.
  1. Societies will take payments for events via the online store. This will be the only way payments can be taken for events that cost the student money. The store can be found at: do I request a product or service? (Employability team)
  • Please complete the on line store proforma
  • Forward your completed proforma to
  • The Cash Receipts Team will load the product or services onto the Online Store for you
  • You will receive an email from the Cash Receipts Team with a link to your product or service to enable you to check and confirm that everything is correct
  1. Society lead must communicate with students the deadlines for collection and that any deposits are non-refundable. This must be paid 4 weeks prior the trip.
  1. Employability team will support the society leads in raising a purchase order (PO) for the balance payments of venues etc. Please be conscious of payment terms (30 days from the date on invoice) when raising the PO so that suppliers are paid in a timely fashion and the event is not jeopardised.
  2. Employability team will send the invoice with the PO number attached to finance for final payment once all the money has been collected from cashiers, This will take 30 days so must be done 4 weeks prior to the event.
  1. Payment made to company.