Nearly ten years ago I started a conversation between the University of Sheffield and Sheffield City Council after a change in the way people could register to vote.
The new system – known as Individual Electoral Registration – meant universities could no longer register students ‘en bloc’ and we were concerned that fewer students in Sheffield (and elsewhere) would register as a result.
After some discussion and with the strong backing of the Vice-Chancellor we agreed to trial a new model, where students in Sheffield could register to vote when they enrolled each year. Subsequently known as the Sheffield Model or ‘auto-enrolment’, this system made a big difference.
It not only offered the opportunity to replace the previous system but offered opportunities to universities that hadn’t used ‘en bloc’ registration. Sheffield Hallam University, for example, estimated it could have the potential to increase student registration rates from 13% to 76%.
