How to become a student and get student discounts.

NUS Card Student Discounts: How to get them and how to become a student

UPDATE: Currently all online courses have been removed from the accepted NUS/Totum system. Please feel free to read the article but, I’m unsure if the courses will be accepted in the future. (22/03/19)

Now 15 years after finishing my last university course and losing my student discounts, I didn’t expect to be studying with an institution again. However, a legitimate NUS card loophole opened up over the past year allowing me to access student discounts once again. To become a student, and get an NUS Extra Card, you’ll need a course provider. Get registered with an educational course provider and you’ll have access to the NUS card and student discount offers below associated with the NUS card.

As an NUS card holder and fully fledged student status you’ll net these student discounts:

1. 25% off already reduced Student priced Odeon Cinema Tickets, read my article on cutting cinema costs further
2. Up to 50% off assorted restaurants like Prezzo, Giraffe, Zizzi’s, Pizza Express, Pizza Hut, Frankie & Benny’s and more…
3. 50% of 5000 other places using the Gourmet Card. Remember, you can get cheap Gourmet Cards elsewhere even if you’re not looking at getting a student card
4. 25% off all Domino Pizza orders using the NUS code and card.
5. 50% off NowTV
6. 10% off the Co-Op, ideal if you’re local shop is just round the corner. That’s £1 back on every little £10 “top up shop”
7. 50% off Spotify Packages
8. 6 months FREE Amazon Prime service, then £39 per year for the Amazon Student Account (50% off the usual Amazon price)
9. You also get student discount on educational prices with Apple products.

So those are the student discounts; now, how to become a student.

Having an NUS Extra Card entitles holders to huge amounts of discounts and savings. You’ll need a card, but anyone can become a student on the cheap by buying access to a discount course from group buying sites. Here’s a few valid at the time of writing this article:

£4 Course from GoGroopie

£9.99 Typing Course from GoGroopie

Courses run by “e careers” via sites like GoGroopie (Currently £4-£19) or Groupon (currently £29+) are best. This is because “e-careers” are currently listed on the NUS site and their own as being valid study places. They often feature e careers courses at huge discounts on these group buying sites, which is great because at full price they’re not cost effective for our purposes. You can complete the courses by working through the modules, or remain a student indefinitely by never completing them.

We’ve done this ourselves and used a “Shaw Academy” course which was actually free, it meant we could register for an NUS Extra card.

Once you’ve got your course, you can register it when you sign up for the NUS Extra card. The NUS card does have to be paid for annually at £12.  But, when you consider the savings and discounts, you’ll soon recoup that outlay. When registering make sure to list your provider as “e-careers”.

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