From lived experience to lasting change: Student Leader of the Year 2025
July 08, 2026
5 minute read: read on to learn how Hafiz embedded student voice throughout his role as Vice President of Education at Northampton Students’ Union, and the impact that has had.
Muhammed Hafiz won Student Leader of the Year at the 2025 #WeAreInternational Awards for his deep impact through leadership at Northampton University.
As Vice President of Education at Northampton Students’ Union, he has made an impact in a variety of ways, from improving the experience of Personal Academic Tutors to shaping employability workshops to be responsive to diverse student needs.
He won the award for the power of his advocacy and leadership, for being a consistent and constructive presence in student roundtables with senior University staff, representing Northampton Students’ Union with integrity and clarity. He has ensured that the voices of students are embedded in key discussions and decision-making processes.
Read on for how he’s embedded student voice into all he does, the challenges he’s faced and his advice for fellow students.
The power of student voice
Hafiz is a brilliant example of the importance of putting student voice at the centre, and the impact it can make within their universities and colleges. He told us:
“When I was studying, I didn’t realise how much power students actually have in shaping university decisions. Through course representative training and events, I’ve made it a priority to show students that their voices genuinely matter and that they can influence university policy and future decision-making.”
When Hafiz began his role as Education Officer, he was made aware of some anxiety around Personal Academic Tutoring by students raising their concerns to him. While it hadn’t been one of his planned priorities, it was identified as one of the most common issues raised by students.
He took these concerns to the Head of Learning and Teaching at Northampton University, and they’ve created a Personal Academic Tutoring Steering Group, comprising colleagues across the University with Hafiz. A three year improvement plan has been developed. The first phase included staff training and the introduction of PAT Connect, a space where Personal Academic Tutors can come together to share practice, discuss challenges, and receive support.
From student feedback, the experience this year has already improved noticeably, with fewer concerns raised compared to previous years.
Building ways to hear students' voices
Northampton students’ union runs a monthly survey, allowing students a way to easily share concerns directly. Through this, he discovered that employability was a key concern.
In response, he held forums and informal discussions with students to understand what they were most worried about. The main themes were confidence, CV writing, and interview skills. Hafiz took these concerns to the university’s employability team, who worked in partnership to design workshops directly addressing these needs.
The workshops were well attended and will be running again this year.
Challenges and advice
Hafiz told us:
“Confidence has been my biggest challenge, particularly being a young officer in rooms where most people are significantly more senior. ”
“That said, I’ve received incredible support from my Students’ Union colleagues, the Vice-Chancellors, and university staff. They consistently reassured me that if I was advocating for students and pushing for genuine change, they would support me. That reassurance helped me grow and thrive in the role.”
Finally, we asked Hafiz what advice he’d give to students who want to become leaders in their university community:
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Take the opportunity when it comes, you can decide later whether it’s right for you. You don’t need to be perfect to start, and you definitely don’t need to be perfect to succeed.
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Never underestimate the importance of people and relationships, talk to others, build connections, and stay engaged.
Read the stories from some of our other 2025 winners.
Nominations for the #WeAreInternational Awards 2026 are still open. Visit awards.ukcisa.org.uk for details on how to enter.
