If you’ve recently had a Totum discount card you might be able to renew it or get an Alumni card.
It looks like this hack is back, meaning even non-students can buy a cheap online course and get access to dozens of student discounts.
Or, if you previously took advantage of this trick, or if you graduated in the last three years, then you might be able to get a new NUS card without buying a course! Here’s how:
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What is an NUS Totum card?
If you’ve ever been a student, you’ll know that your ID often doubled up as an NUS (National Union of Students) card and gave you discounts in shops, cinemas and more.
A good few years ago NUS started charging students to get an NUS Extra card, which as the name suggests, gave even more discounts. It’s since been rebranded Totum.
The cards also now come with a Tastecard and an ISIC (International Student Identity Card), giving student prices overseas and on travel.
It’s a great way to save, even if there is a £14.99 annual cost plus £1.50 delivery. It’s cheaper to get a three-year card (at £34.99), though that only has the ISIC card for one year.
How much money can I save?
Potentially a huge amount.
Of course, it depends on what you buy. There are still thousands of ways to save. Plenty of high street shops will give a 10% discount, including Leon, Boots and Apple. Add on the discounts you can get at cinemas, theatres, galleries and thousands of shops and you should easily make your £16.49 back. Anything after that is a massive bonus.
Unfortunately, some student discounts (eg Young Persons Railcard), require a student ID. And some discounts – such as Spotify and Asos – are only available via sites like MyUniDays and StudentBeans which require a full .ac.uk email address.
Totum Alumni card for previous cardholders
If you are a recent graduate, or if you picked up a Totum card via the old version of the trick, you should be able to pick up an alumni card. This will give you all the same discounts, without you having to still be at university.
There are a few ways to get this. First you can log in to your NUS/Totum account and see if you’ve got the option to just buy a new card. I had a look at my old account and this was there ready for me to get. One thing I noticed was that this didn’t seem to be an alumni card, but it worked in the same way – as long as I didn’t change my place of study (doing this required a new verification).
It might be that your old log-in doesn’t work anymore as I recall having to change my password when NUS changed to Totum. In that case, try the following.
Follow this link to set up a support ticket with Totum. Ideally you’ll need your card number, but hopefully your email will suffice. You’ll then be sent a verification link to order your new alumni Totum card.
Or if you were an actual student who graduated within the last three years then follow the same link and upload proof of graduation.
This is the best option as you’ll only need to pay for the Totum card itself, and not an online course too.
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Get a new student discount card when you aren’t a student
One of the first articles I wrote on the blog, and one of the most popular for years, was a hack to get a student discount if you weren’t a student. The trick was to sign up for an online course at certain providers where you’d be eligible for the NUS Totum card.
I first signed up back in 2013 for an online Photoshop card, and repeated it a number of times until these online education businesses were all removed by NUS in 2018. Sad times.
However, since March 2023 it now looks like some online providers are offering access to the Totum card again. I’ve not tried it personally, so proceed with caution.
Which online courses make you eligible for an NUS card?
There are a few course providers, found via Reed, which promise eligibility for a Totum card. Ones I’ve spotted in mid-February 2024 include:
- Global Edulink
- 1 Training
- Study365
- Oxford Home Study Centre
- Lead Academy
- e-courses4you
- e-careers
Prices seem to start at £12 for an online course.
The problem is that for most of these the reference to Totum doesn’t actually appear on the individual course descriptions. Instead it appears on the search results. But I’ve cross-referenced each of these providers and they do appear on the Totum application page.
So hopefully you’ll be able to request a code from the training provider once you’ve paid for your course. You’ll need this to verify on the Totum site that you are doing a course.
Of course there’s a risk that you won’t be able to get the verification code. If that happens then you could try to get a refund on the course bought.
Also be very careful that these providers don’t try to sell you their own student discount card. A number of them have these for between £8 and £14 but they are not the NUS/Totum cards. The only people you should be giving money to are whoever sells you the initial course and Totum’s own website.
Cheapest course I can find (14/2/2024):
The cheapest paid course I can find is £12 – not bad as long as you aren’t bothered about the actual course content. These were all via Reed, though it’s worth checking sites like Groupon and Living Social.
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How to apply for your Totum card
Once you’ve signed up to your course, you can simply apply for a Totum card on the Totum website. You may need to contact the course provider to get the verification or voucher code.
Here’s how to apply for your Totum Card:
- Step 1: Go to Totum.com
- Step 2: Enter your email address
- Step 3: Type in the course provider as your place of study. This should auto-populate the box after three characters. Once it appears hit continue.
- Step 4: Enter the verification code
- Step 5: Here you pick the length of NUS card you are buying and any add-ons (more on these later)
- Step 6: Next upload a photo of yourself (this will be displayed on the card).
- Step 7: Enter your personal details. You may be asked for a student number or password. You should be able to find this in the account you’ve set up for your online course.
- Step 8: You pay! It’s £14.99 for a one-year membership, £24.99 for two-years and £34.99 for three. There’s a £1.50 charge for delivery.
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Best NUS card discounts
You can search the NUS Totum website to see where you can use it, though many businesses won’t be listed there so ask in-store or look for signs.
I’ve shared a list of some of the top places to look here. However, there are a few which I think are particularly special:
Apple student discount
If you’re going to buy an iMac, iPad or Macbook then having an NUS card means you can get the Education Discount worth up to 10% off.
Plus if you buy in August and September you can get a freebie. In 2023 it was an Apple gift card worth up to £120, in previous years it’s been headphones! To use online you click through from the NUS website. More on saving at Apple with a student discount
Boots student discount
Take your Totum card into a Boots store and ask them to link it to your Advantage card. You’ll need to do this each September.
Does anyone know if Totum Pro can be used with the Apple education discount? I am eligible for Totum Pro and need a new iPad
Hi as at March 2024, personally tried to buy a Course from Reed offered by Lead academy, it only qualifies for Totum professional but not students. Anyone has successful experiences?
Totum Alumni now only qualifies you for the Totum professional card, which doesn’t get the Amazon discount.
Hi All, Does anyone know if the TOTUM Cashback card is worth getting? It seems to be a pre-loaded debit card so no credit search but gives 6% cashback in certain locations. I was wondering if this is better to use than the Chase cashback card, or does the 3.99 fee wipe that out?
Co-op no longer gives the 10% discount for Totum. However, they have introduced a cash-back, top-up credit card which gives an average 6% cashback at a number of places such as Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Asda etc.
Do you think this is worth it?
As of 24/2/23 – I browsed the Reed.co.uk site, found a £12 online course with Lead Academy, which shows on the course description if it qualifies you for a Totum card, bought the course, and then you need to contact the course provider directly to get a Totum sign up code. I don’t know if all providers have the same process, but the next day Lead Academy emailed me with a one-time Totum link, which allows you to sign up and order your card.
There are a number of cheap online course providers which qualify for Totum.
Centre of Excellence have free courses and they qualify !😇
Can’t see how to get the code from them
Thanks for this update and tip! When you say ‘which shows on the course description if it qualifies you for a Totum card’, does it actually say about Totum on the description or is it something else like saying it’s accredited? I’ve looked at a few Lead Academy ones and I haven’t found one that says ‘Totum’ in the description or fit the Totum requirement of minimum 120 hours, as they’re self-paced..
I asked the same question, did you get an asnwer?
Lead academy not working.
Centre of excellence not workin
How did you filter for “hows on the course description if it qualifies you for a Totum card” ?
Hi Did you receive the Totum Student + or Professional?
Hi Cass, which course did you sign up for if you don’t mind me asking?
Hey Cass, do you know if the course had to be a minimum of 120 hours or did they not check?
(September 2020) I just managed to get another Totem Pro card without even verifying what course I was on! I logged in for the first time in years and it took me straight to a page asking me to provide them my details again to re-verify my student status. Distance Learning Centre still say they offer Totem cards so I tried typing that in and lo and behold, it came up as an option. I selected it, proceeded, and it never asked me for any further course details, just my payment method, and done. My new card is on the way.
Just tried it – now says ‘no verification method available.’ and wont let me go any futher.
did you get an repl?
Andy – Totum are now offering a Totum Pro Card for non-students. Same discounts as the old NUS Extra / new Totum card, but without having to register as a student.
It seems it is by invitation only as I got sent a personal code which worked fine – my NUS card having expired this year. Worth looking at Totum Pro link on the Totum website as it is targeted and “available to all previous NUS extra and TOTUM cardholders, you don’t have to be studying at college or uni to grab one”, so this might show people how to get one.
does this give same benefits as totum student ? thx
Just got TOTUM card without any course sign up, just select Pitman Training when ordering card.
How did you select home delivery?
I can only see collect in person as an option?
Me too. How does it work?
It now says ‘no verification method available’ and wont let you go any further now 🙁
Hi i’ve Just had an email from TOTUM – they are now offering a TOTUM Pro card and that seems to ecareers as an option. Can’t test it as my card isn’t due to expire yet
Thanks, Lisa. I’ve called Ecareers but they say that’s a mistake and they don’t have a partnership with Totum. I’ll keep an eye on this to see if it changes.
As of 18 July 2019 I can confirm that the hack using Darlington Borough Council combined with Home Delivery does work to purchase a Totum card, but only for one year at a time (the three year option is not available). £12 for the card, £1.50 for delivery, a tidy total of £13.50 for a year’s worth of discounts.
How do you sign up to Darlington Borough Council? So free to sign up to them, and then £12 for the totum card?
Thanks
Which course did you sign up for and how much did the course cost ?
please can you explain how this works?
Sadly this loophole closed in 2018
As of June 5th, I can confirm that putting in “Darlington Borough Council” as your place of learning, or “Learning & Skills” (both same thing) will allow you to select Home Delivery as part of the ordering process.
For £1.50, they will deliver the card to your home address. Couldn’t see an option for taking this over more than a year though, so may need to revisit the issue next year!
Hi JC,
Do i need to enrol on a course at Learning & skills to get the nus card?
Thanks
Natalie
Hi managed to get a totum pro card a few months ago. YouTube premium student membership is up for renewal, redirects to SHEERID to verify student ID 🤔. Unsure how to progress 🙁
Neither of these work now 🙁
Sadly this doesn’t work as of 6th June 2019
These are no longer available
Hi JC, Thanks for the info. Do you need to register for one of the courses at Darlington Borough Council before you apply for the NUS card? Will they deliver the NUS card to my home address when I have applied for the NUS card?
Can you really get an NUS card if you’re not a student
Does this trick still work with the online courses ??
As i need a NUS extra card to get discount on joining a gym membership
Hi Arif, no the main trick no longer works.
As of August 1st 2019 I can confirm this hack no longer works
GUYS, as of today (29th May 2019), “Learning for Life” course accepts online sign-ups through NUS Extra.
I just managed to renew my card for 3 years for £32. Given that ASOS now accept NUS Extra as proof for a 10% discount, I estimate I’ll make that money back within a couple of months!
Happy saving!
Thanks JC. I’ve checked this out and Learning For Life seems to be a charity helping adults with learning disabilities in Durham. It’s not possible to buy an online course to be eligible for the NUS Card, so I’d hate for people to take advantage of this option in case it impacts the company and its legitimate students.
Good point Andy, apologies!
I found another which accepts home delivery of your card — I will update the thread accordingly!
Cheers mate, love the website
But do they post to your home address?
Do you know of anyway of getting student beans if you’ve got a student card and a course?
Afraid not, you need to be a “proper” student
No you do not. There is still a way to get one.
John; Can you share how?
Goto sign up.
Enter your correct email when signing up.
Enter – LCBT LTD as collage. This is the only one which lets you get the card delivered to your home address.
Choose home for card delivery.
Make sure to choose 3 year card as it’s getting harder to obtain one.
Pay via PayPal or card and job done.
LCBT LTD does not work now
What do you fill in for the course details thought once you have picked LCBT LTD ?
I can confirm that learndirect (all one word) does appear on Totum
Did this work then? Did you sign up to a course ?
learndirect does not come up on totum website anymore 🙁
learndirect , oes not come up on totum website anymore ?
Just signed up using learndirect who do free ‘life skills’ courses. All comes up OK on the NUS website. I was renewing a card, not sure if that makes a difference but payment was processed and I have an email confirmation from NUS
Learndirect does not come up when you enter it in place of study
Hi I’ve looked on the website but can’t find any free courses? Hope you can help!
Just to confirm, got my TOTUM card today, using learndirect. Just sign up with them for free.
hi, Simon . just tried , can’t find learndirect anymore .
I suspect someone from TOTUM check this page always . hahahaha
I was able to renews NUS for 3 more years using learndirect free courses. Thank you!
I can see that they do not recognise learndirect as a place of study. What place of study you need to put in order to get TOTUM card?
Simon,
What free course did you select? I cannot see one. Did you receive your card ok?
I’ve managed to get Learndirect to work on the NUS site but I cant find the free life skill courses. Any ideas on how to find them?
The best option might be one of the on-line courses at London Skills & Development Network (who are definitely on the list!). They offer a Level 1 Certificate in IT User Skills which I can’t imagine would be very expensive. No prices on their web site though!
Just tried it but I’m unable to see ” London Skills & Development Network”
Hey Not able to see the London Skills and Development Network form the List of colleges .Please advise
Hello!
I’ve just bought a course on e-Careers but it is not available in the list of options on NUS. Do you know anything about this?
Thanks!
Adriana
Hi Adriana, yes if you look at the top of the article you’ll see the update showing that NUS has removed all e-learning providers from the system and the loophole is sadly closed. If I find any way to get a cheap course I’ll update the article accordingly. But I don’t hold out much hope.
Any news on this anyone found any other cheap courses
I’m still looking but not found anything yet
this is a shame – was a great hack!
does anyone know if it still works?
Afraid not right now
Hi all and any updates if NewSkills academy are looking to get the NUS card affiliated anytime soon?
Thanks
It looks like NUS removed all online learning companies. If it does change I’ll update!
I have just enrolled with Skillsnetwork and they have saud I can get an NUS card.
Hey Chris, did you manage to get your card?
It seems there is a chance we can renew an existing NUS card.
** Full disclosure: I have not tried this yet **
If you search for an institute that does not have an academic email address, an example being “The Edinburgh Academy”. It does not ask you to verify.
(because High schools don’t normally have ac.uk emails or academic portals)
I clicked through all the way to the last step where I can confirm and pay the card.
As my card is valid until February, I don’t need to renew yet, but I would be interested to see if anyone can using this method.
Also, there is a chance you can just buy a new NUS card with this technique.
Unfortunately, if you don’t verify your email, the card is sent to the school, with this example it shows:
“Deliver To The Edinburgh Academy”
as the only option for delivery.
I’ve just tried it, they will send the Totum card direct to your chosen academy.
Hopefully a useful update for everyone.
This just in from New Skills Academy:
“Chris replied
Aug 15, 12:02
Hi Helen,
Sorry about the issues you are facing with your NUS Extra Card.
They are in the middle of changing their name and system to TOTUM and they’ve paused lots of online suppliers, while they manually check all details.
This is taking much longer than anticipated and have told us it can take up to 2 weeks.
Please can I ask you to check back in one week, when this should be sorted by and you can claim your NUS card.
Sorry for the inconvenience again, this was caused by NUS Extra and without any warning to us 🙁
Kind Regards
Chris Morgan
Customer Service
NewSkillsAcademy”
So it seems if people wait a week, it should be sorted.
Best wishes
Helen.
Hi Helen, I have just bought a New Skills Academy course too. Do we need to apply for an NUS Extra card? I can’t see anything for a plain and simple NUS Card and it seems as though the “Extra” is for apprenticeships etc?
Hi Nick, sadly it looks like this hack is over. If it does return I’ll let you know. It’s worth seeing if you can get a refund from New Skills Academy if you don’t want the course
Bad news. Probably all online providers were removed for good from NUS list:
https://newskillsacademy.co.uk/a-letter-from-our-ceo/
All options now seem to have been removed
Hopefully we’ll see some of those course providers return in the next week. I’ll keep an eye out and update the article when there’s any news
Hi,
New Skills Academy seems to have been removed. Are there any courses/places of study available at the moment?
Thanks
I’ve just spotted this too. Sadly I can’t find any. I’ve contacted New Skills Academy as it still states on its website that you get an NUS card with its courses. Hopefully it’s just a technical error.
Hi,
I’ve just followed the guide and bought an ecareers course. Unfortunately they tell me they do not provide NUS Extra eligibility. They sell their own Supercard for discounts etc.
Me too. Got ecareers as recommended and NUS say it is not eligible.
If it is too good to be true…..
Hi Cheryl, the article has been updated with other options. But as I mention above, I think it’s worth checking on the NUS website (via the card application) that the course provider is still valid.
Any hope/info that Ecareers might be re-added?
Just activated my account to try and get the NUS but it hasn’t worked 🙁
It looks like all online course providers have been axed by NUS. It’s such a shame
Looks like the NUS doesn’t work any more for Apple 🙁
the only option for apple discount will be unidays
£17.50 wasted 🙁
Yes it looks like it stopped today or yesterday. Fingers crossed it’ll come back, but I think it’s unlikely. However, you’ll still be able to use your discount elsewhere so it’s not a total waste of cash
I looks like Ecareers does not show up anymore on the NUS site when selecting a place of study, can you guys confirm? Any other way around this?
This is a real shame. However it looks like New Skills Academy courses are still valid. NCC Home Learning also still list NUS card eligibility in its website but I can’t get it to appear on the NUS website. So it’s looks like the courses for New Skills Academy are the best bet for now. I’ve linked in the article above to the cheapest ones I’ve found so far.
I just purchased Macbook Air on apple website with NUS yesterday bought an online course for excel through Wowcher then signed up just clicked through the link on the NUS website got 10% discount plus free beats worth £249.99 on 09/08/18.
Are we required to have a UK postal address to register on NUS website?
Hi Guillaume, Yes you do need to be a UK resident.
I got my card fine I signed up for a pro card typed chartered accountant and had a code sent to me by email my own email entered the five digit Number you need and filled in the card from sent to payment paid and go my card the other day with picture
Ecareers no longer works guys. I signed up and then the chat told me they know longer work with NUS.
Who knows what is working right now as of July 19, 2018?
Was this the chat with NUS or eCareers? It was still listed yesterday on the NUS application so should still work fine
Hey. It was chat with learn-accounts which was the site I was sent to for the accounting and bookkeeping course, which was sold under the Ecareers name.
UPDATE: I said I would need a refund, and the customer service rep told me the Student Password to try. And it worked. So, no refund requested 😀
And yes Ecareers was still listed on the NUS extra sign up page when I signed up on Friday. Got my card today. 🙂
I too just finished signing up with the eCareers coucher and had no problems fillling in the NUS extra application. I managed to pay just fine and the card should arrive in the next few days. Many thanks for this brilliant little tip!
so what was the password then?
I couldn’t get “ecareers” to work this morning. Added email then it asks for place of study, every time I added it, I got the same response – it appears your place of study is not recognised. Am I doing something wrong?
Great tip – my card arrived this morning – valid for 3 years!
worked with ecareers, 16th May 2018. Thanks Andy!
Is that the Microsoft course?
What course did you purchase to do it?
Thanks in advance
Any update on spotify? mine has just run out and jumped up to £9.99.
Sadly not. You can get three months for 99p at the moment if you’re a new user
Hi Andy
Just to let you know that NUS no longer recognise Of Course as providers.
I wanted to renew my NUS Extra card with another Of Course offering; unfortunately I had bought the course before finding it wasn’t valid.
Thanks Anne Marie
Hi, Unfortunately this is not working for me. I have followed the instructions to the letter but am currently stuck on the Order Summary screen (Step 4) where you press Continue. It is just refreshing the page after clicking Continue button. Have tried changing course titles, lengths etc. Nothing is allowing me to continue past Step 4. Very frustrating. Wasted £4.00.
Hi Daniel, it should work. Try a different browser perhaps?
Hey,
Does the £4 ecareers Microsoft course still work?
Thanks in advance
Hi Sam, I’ve just gone through the process on the NUS page up until payment and it looks like it’s working absolutely fine!
Hi, Im looking on the Ecareers website for the £4 Microsoft but cant find it. Where else has the inexpensive courses?
Try the links in the site above, via Go Groopie, Groupon and others
Hi, what course level is the online go groopie course?
I’m filling in the NUS form now 🙂
I normally put vocational and that works fine!
Working as of 2018-09-02 with Ecareers.
Hi / Did you have to wait for the course to “become available”? Also what does the “student password” relate to ?
Working as of March too. And if you use a promo code with Go Groupie (e.g. WELCOME10), it’s £3.60 instead of £4.00.
This works as of 4/2/18 (access the Apple discounts via the NUS site after signing up to NUS extra after signing up to a course). Saved a very substantial amount of cash. Thank you very much Andy!
What university did you put in drop down box ? Ecareers or online course not reconised !
I can’t get Spotify discount to work, my student pass for last year just expired and I can’t extend it
I got the NUS Extra card with no trouble last year using ecareers, however I have just tried to use it to get discount on Microsoft Office 365 and they want an academic email address which my provider does not supply.
Any ideas how I might be able do get around this.
Worked for me no problem. Go via go groupie as recommended by Andy and once you’ve paid go to straight to NUS.org and follow the instructions choosing Ecareers as your course provider. No need to ‘redeem voucher’. Got my card for 3 years. Thanks Andy!
Amazing – cheers Andy! Worked perfectly.
Luckily I still look about 12 so should get away with it!
Don’t waste 4 quid like I did, doesn’t work anymore
Hey Austin. What happened? I’ve just gone through the process as far as payment and it all seems as expected. So it should work fine
Hey, when I put my details on NUS site (bought a new skills academy course from Groupon which works fine) it automatically gives me a 1 year card – any tips on how to get the 3 year card? Thanks
Hmm, there’s normally a drop down option on one of the pages. I think it’s the one where you have the ability to add on extras such as Gourmet Society.
Yeah the option is there to add Gourmet society but that’s it!
Oh, I don’t know then. That’s where it should be. What dates did you put in for your course? Try changing them to three years (if you’ve not already done this)
Hi Andy,
What’s the “student password” the NUS ask for ?
Also Can I apply even though my e-careers course is not yet “available ” even though I’ve bought it ?
I’ve got some more info that might be helpful to people: Through Apple chat they can give you a link to get a 10% discount, otherwise I think you have to go through Unidays. You can also get the discount in the Apple store and you can EVEN get it with proof you’ve bought an NUS so you don’t even need to wait for it !
Yeah I’ve never worked that out! It works if you enter a random word.
Re Apple – you get the discount online by clicking through from the NUS website, so you can do that before getting your card. No need for UNiDays
Hi when I try to do mine its asking for an academic email address. I am using ecareers £4 course option. It lets me go to order summary confirmation page and i cannot go any further. Confirm and pay page just keeps refreshing? keep clicking on confirm and pay and I keep getting a refreshed page.
I’ve just tried this and gone all the way through to the payment page. Can anyone confirm that they’ve managed to process the application?
Hey, I bought an NUS card today using the £4 ecareers course. It says it will arrive in 7 days, fingers crossed it comes! Thanks for this post!!
My 3 year application fine. Thanks Andy!
Great!
Do you actually have to purchase the Ecareer course for this to work?
Does this definitely work with the £4 Microsoft ECareers course? I read on another article that it might stop? Thanks
No. I just wasted £4
Worked fine for me, got my card yesterday
I have just tried to follow all the steps and I can confirm that unfortunately the Ecareers doesn’t let me go through :/
I’ve just tried to the final payment page and it seems to work fine. Where did it not work?
Hey Andy.
When I try to select the place of study/work, I don’t have E-Careers as an option :/
Somehow I just got through =)
Tell me something, shall I wait the 3 days until the system register me completely for the course ( I got an email saying that in the next 3 days I would be officially in the course) or can I purchase the card straight away?
Thanks a lot 😉
I think you can purchase straight away!
Try without the hyphen. So just Ecareers. That should show up!
Just worked fine for me.
Great!
Worked for me
E-carriers no longer cooperates with NUS card. Confirmed on chat.
They are asking NUS to take their name off the list.
Talked to a guy from e-careers over the phone tonight who said any course through e-careers you can get a NUS student card from!
I bought a one-year online course, can I apply for a three-year NUS card? Can I write 3 years between the start date and end date? Will they verify with the course provider and find it out before I ‘m issued the card? Has anyone tried? Thanks!
Yes, I took out an online course and applied for a 3 year card – no problems at all
Do you need to buy the course? I just selected ECareers and it took me right to the payment page?
I am wondering also. It didn’t ask to provide any proof or whatever.
Hi, thanks for this article – really well explained I appreciate it a lot! I think I just found a free online course that gives you an NUS card. I’ve just signed up myself and ordered a card so fingers crossed it arrives ok. Here’s the link:
I signed up to the time management course.
Any more updates on getting the Spotify discount without a Unidays account? Or any ways or forging a Unidays account..?
Thanks!
Anyone have any links to free courses?
Hi, Ive signed up for an NUS Card, my Spotify is now up for renewal but it now says this: Now you can enjoy the ultimate Spotify experience for less than a fiver a month. All you need to do to get your hands on this great offer is register or log in with UNiDAYS® below.
I dont have a unidays account and when you try and register, it wants the email address of your UNI.. for which i dont have one.. any advice how i can get around this?
Hi Mark, yes this is really frustrating. They changed the deal at the start of the month. At the moment it looks like Spotify is off the cards unless you have an ac.uk email address. If you’re willing to move to Amazon Unlimited Music, there’s a way to get that down to around £6.50 a month which I’ve explained here. https://becleverwithyourcash.com/how-to-save-on-music-streaming/ I’ve keep looking for Spotify workarounds too!
So does this mean that when they ask you to resubmit your NUS details to maintain the student discount you just won’t be able to unless you also have a UNidays account? My current NUS card is a 3 year one with another 2 years to go. Will I get an alert asking me to re-enter my details each year?
I don’t know the answer to this but it’ll be good if you can share if that happens.
Yes, sadly you need to be Unidays as the Spotify discount is only valid for a year at a time 🙁
I think the Shaw Academy has been removed from the NUS Extra list. I couldn’t find it there. Anyone else having the same issue?
Hi Adam, thanks for this. I’ve had a look and yeah, it seems to have disappeared. Damn shame! Digital Sea and New Learning Academy have also gone. Ecareers, NCC and New Skills Academy are listed still.
Ecareers are no more providing any NUS card. I’ve just had a chat with their online support.
Hi Andy. Thanks a lot for your blog. Can you advise if it would be possible to apply for an actual student rail card by signing up to one of these courses. Down south you can just get a Network rail card but it does not work up north.
Thanks in advance
I’m afraid not. That would be fantastic. Sadly you need ID from an academic institution for a rail card
Hi Andy. Thanks for your response. I do not think Shaw Academy on the list of acceptable places of study. What is the other option you could recommend?
Many thanks.
Hi Dimitri – they’re all listed up above. The cheapest is usually a £4 Microsoft course from Ecareers via a site called GoGroupie. But there are other options with with more interesting courses
Does this still work with Spotify?
Spotify wants me to log in with Unidays.
NUS Extra website doesn’t seem to list Spotify at all.
Has the NUS Spotify offer been removed?
Would be a real shame as this was the reason I signed up..!
Hmmm, it’s still listed in the terms and conditions here https://www.spotify.com/uk/legal/studentplan/ however on the student offer front page it says “UK Title IV accredited institutions” only… This looks like a change in the last few days. Hopefully someone will find a workaround soon. I’ll keep looking
Is this still working with Shaw Academy? I’ve signed up for a free trial but can’t see a membership number…
Thanks
Yes it still works. Is there any kind of ID/user number in your Shaw account? If not, try some random numbers…
For travellers in the north of England, it’s worthwhile noting that Transpennine Express give a 25% discount when booked through their website. Just go to the drop down list on ‘rail cards’. You don’t need a regular young persons rail card.
Cheers Chris – good to know!
Andy. Many thanks for the NUS discount information.
I’ve just signed up for a Free 30 day trial with Shaw for one course, filled in all the details for NUS (using my email as my Shaw Uni student ID) and it looks to have all gone through. I can see my card details including the NUS Extra and ISIC Numbers online already.
Now I’m going to do Spotify, Amazon Prime and hopefully go see a cheap movie in an air conditioned cinema while it’s 32C outside!
Thanks again!
Fantastic! The Prime and Spotify savings are worth it alone aren’t they?
How long til you could see your student number please and where abouts was it
I signed up with Shaw Academy but then the NUS website requires a Shaw Academy student number as well. I didn’t get a Shaw A student number so what do I do?
Hmm, contact Shaw Academy to find out where this is. Let me know what they say
You Just enter your registered email address, that seemed to work for me.
Great, thanks Andy
I just signed up for a Shaw Academy course but it seems they’re only free for 30 days, after which you have to pay £50 to continue.
I ordered an NUS Extra card anyway. I had to leave the “Shaw Academy Account number” blank as they haven’t provided one and there’s nothing like that under My Account but the order went through anyway, so hopefully it will turn up!
Oh thanks David – I hadn’t realised. When I read about it the charge seemed to come in if you wanted a certificate. I guess make sure you’re not getting set up for a Direct Debit.
Yeah, there’s no risk of a Direct Debit thankfully as they didn’t ask me for any bank details.
I’ve received my NUS card now 🙂
Great!
Hey mate! Many thanks! Worked fine for me with a Shaw Ac course. I had an Apprentice NUS card that expires so I had to use a different email as it was trying to get my Apprenticeship NUS card extended…..and I think the NUS EXTRA has more discounts. Straight away renewed my Spotify ^_^ I wish it worked like that for TFL cards LoL
I signed up to the £4 ECareers Windows course even after I saw that they had removed the ECareers link to the NUS card info page – thought I’d take the risk. Then went through the process of signing up for an NUS card for a year, entered ECareers as the place of study. My payment was accepted and now I’m told my card is being produced! So, looks good so far – will see if I actually get it…
Also, I’m wondering whether the NUS site is even linked to ECareers at all. Seems like anyone can just sign up and pay for a card on the NUS site – I assumed you needed an .ac.uk email (and this is what ECareers would give you) but you can sign up with any email address. Anyway, thanks for the tips Andy, great article.
That’s great! Thanks for sharing for everyone.
Anthony – did you get your NUS card in the end?
I signed up and entered a random card number and it lets you pay and sign through anyway
I’m stuck at the point where on the NUS website is asks me for my student password. I have used the one to log in the system but is not letting me move forward. What so they mean by student password? – Thank you
Hi Ombretta, since you’ve got an ac.uk email account it might be different for you. With the Ecareers course you can just make up any password!
Hi Mark,
I was wondering if you have any updates regarding Ecareers supporting NUS, the link you have posted in your March update is expired.
Thank you in advance!
Also do you know if the £4 Microsoft deal still entitles you to an NUS card?
Thank you!
Hi DS,
I’m afraid I don’t know. If Ecareers have removed the link, that suggests they’re no longer supporting it – which means buying the course also won’t entitle you. However, when I quickly looked yesterday, the NUS website still allowed you to type in Ecareers as an option. So at the moment I suppose it’s a case of whether you’re willing to risk £4. If I manage to find out more I’ll update the articles
Fantastic. Followed your instructions and I’ve not ordered mine. Cheers!
You mean you have ordered yours? Hope so!
Andy I’ve just bought the £4.00 Microsoft Office 2013 New Features..I’ve phoned for the course members number but the lady said I can’t get an NUS Card for this course..please advise? Thank you Mark
Hi Mark, you shouldn’t need to talk to eCareers directly, instead you sign up via the NUS website. I’ve just checked and as you start typing Ecareers it will autopopulate. However, if Ecareers have stopped its partnership it might not last for much longer
Hi Andy,
i have my NUS card *i got it when I was doing a graphic course, which I never started hhihi, I tried to register my card online on UNIDAYS website but it asks this“Tell us your personal Service email address so we can send you a verification link“
now I have no clue where to get this email… and what about if I buy E Career cousre and try to register with it?
Hi Irys, sadly the NUS card won’t work with UNIDAYs – you need to have a valid academic email address to activate UNIDAYs and you don’t get than with NUS. However you can still save at lots of shops with one!
Hey, I’ve signed up for a course but get stuck at step one of buying an NUS card; essentially I enter my email and then on the next page no place of study’s showing, typing in eCareers does nothing either.
Have I missed something or maybe am I supposed to leave it a certain length of time between activated my course with eCareers before NUS will recognise my email address?
PS thanks for this little hack, a few friends of mine who’ve used it recommended it to me 🙂
Hmm, have you tried a different browser? I check it last week and it worked fine for me. It should auto populate after a few characters with institutions to choose from. So see if another place (eg Leeds or Cardiff) appear.
Hi I’ve signed up for e careers and been told they no longer do nus cards
Hi Sharon, I’ve just checked and you can still get the card via the NUS website. Enter eCareers and it will autopopulate the box, then carry on from there!
Hiya, Thank you for all the top tips, Was going to try this one, mainly for cinema an amazon discount but have a few questions, if anyone can help?
1, can I buy a 3-year card?
2, unsure what to put for start/end dates of course? mainly due to wanting a 3-year card
3, Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/feature.html?docId=1000741813
now require you to send a scan photo of A valid NUS Extra or NUS Apprentice Extra card (must show your name, institution, and date of expiry).If we determine you’re eligible, we’ll send you a follow-up e-mail within 3-5 business days that contains a link which allows you to complete the sign-up process without an .ac.uk e-mail address.
anyone have any experience of this?
so not sure if worth it if i can’t get the amazon discount.
thanks in adavance
Hey Anna, so 1) yes you can get a three year card, but it only has a one year ISIC add on; 2) put the start date as now, and end in three years; 3) yes, that’s how I got my Amazon Prime!
Does this work for Adobe? has anyone tried and how?
Hi John, I got this through Apple when I bought my Mac.
I bought a course on Ecareer but to register for an NUS card it’s asking for an “academic email address” – what did you put in here?
I’ve just checked through the whole process and I’ve not been asked for an academic email address. You are asked for a student password but you can put anything in there without it affecting your application.
Is this the sane way to get an NUS Card?
I wouldn’t mind cheaper local bus fares, but they say NUS Extra isn’t accepted.
I paid for a £15 course and then £33.50 3 year NUS card only to find that all the places like Topshop and Office (the only reason I wanted the NUS discount card !) aren’t available with an NUS card anymore. So annoyed as i’m not going to make the cost of my card back anymore. I’ve contacted NUS to see if I can cancel the card order, but I don’t hold out much hope.
You can use the NUS card in store at Topshop, just not online. It could be the same for office.
Just wanted to FYI the shaw academy online is always doing free courses either on their website or through freebie websites. I signed up for one for free and was able to apply for a nus student card 🙂
Hi, does anyone know if the ‘intro to Microsoft new features’ course for £4 on GoGroopie will be valid for applying for the NUS card? It’s still available to buy.
Took a chance and bought the £4 GoGroopie Microsoft course for £4. This works! After activating my voucher with eCareers I was able to buy a 1 year NUS card. Just waiting now for it to be delivered.
what did you put as the course level and course discipline? I’m not sure what to select…
I think it was vocational? Then just choose the closest to the course you’ve bought.
Any such tricks for Unidays?
Sadly not. You need the .ac.uk email address.
Hi. Do you have to actually complete any of the modules for the course, exams etc?
No, you just need to sign up
Brilliant. Thanks for the swift reply.
There is an intro to Microsoft new features on gogroopie now for £4
bought e-careers course and ordered nus extra card. How do you sign up form amazon prime student offer? Amazon asks for .ac.uk email address. Thanks,
Potentially you can combine buying the course from LivingSocial etc with cashback, as Topcashback at least offer such sometimes. It’s usually around 5-10% but… why not 🙂
Thanks for the tip.
Hi Andy. Thanks for the tip..
Do you know if I can get the 3 year NUS card for £32 instead of the 1 year one by just selecting a longer 3 year course on the dates? Or that won’t work? I don’t want to apply and then get rejected… has anyone tried it yet? Thanks. ?
Hi.
You sure this works for Apple? Don’t that use the Unidays website for edu discounts?
Cheers.
Hi James, yes you need to go via the NUS Extra website. But you simply log in and click through! Andy
hey man!
I think E-careers “is not listed or recognised” anymore.
Or in any case, could you explain how to put this information in the step where it asks for “Your course / Place of study” right after they ask you for your email.
Thanks in advance
Have you tried it without the hyphen, so just ecareers?
hi basicly i need train discound is it work on it.. in uk
I’m afraid not. You need a university ID to get the Young Person’s Railcard
Glad i found this again, knew about it a year ago but never got round to doing it. Also been wanting to get the amazon prime for 6 months too but couldn’t get a “uni” email to join. Thanks
Great! Hope you make some decent savings
The problem is, if you try and use the card online, all websites I try so far require logging into unidays. Once you’ve done so unidays states it doesn’t currently accept ecareers :-/ so I’ve not yet been able to use my discount on any retailers websites I’ve tried so far.
Yeah, it’s becoming more common. You can click through from the NUS Extra website to get some savings online, such as Amazon, Apple and Spotify.
Applied and paid for e-careers course and in process of applying for NUS card. The form asks me for student password? Is this something I generate or will e-careers tell me this is due course.
You can make it up!
Does this enable you to get eduxation/student discount on an Apple Mac?
Hi Sam, yes it does! Here’s my blog on that in more detail https://becleverwithyourcash.com/get-apple-student-discount-not-student/
Do I need to make sure it’s “e-careers” course when I look at Groupon? There are some other interesting courses but they don’t mention the word.
Yes, it needs to be Ecareers. NUS own them which is why it works on those courses.
Where is the option to apply for ISIC card for £2.99 please? Thank you
It looks like the ISIC card now comes free! Bonus!
Hi, does it work for unidays?? I can’t seem to find E-Careers on it as authorised institutions?
Hi, write “ecareers” without the hyphen. It should work fine now! Unfortunately, you can’t use it with Unidays which does limit the discounts available, but it’s well worth it for the cinema and six month Amazon Prime discount.
Do you have to buy a specific course on Groupon etc? Thanks
Hi, no you should be able to choose any course. I’ve listed the cheapest options but if you can find one you’re interested in, even better.
I’ve found some courses that are £4! They say they’re supplied by e-careers so do you think this would be allowed? there’s another course for £9 which is about stress too, supposedly by e-careers…Would courses like that really get you an NUS card? Thanks
If they really are e-careers they should work… To be safe I’d make sure they let for 12 months. Let me know how it goes – and where you found the courses!
Thanks for this.
The cheapest at the minute seems to be this Amazon Local deal at £9 (although Amazon local is ending in a day or so).
No problem. Yeah it’s a shame Amazon Local is closing. Bespoke Offers has also shut and many of the group buying sites are streamlining…
Thanks Andy. I’m sure I’ll have recouped the outlay in savings in no time.
I know, it’s crazy isn’t it! I don’t always remember to ask if the shop offers a discount but it’s surprising how many do
help!!! bought the course…trying to apply for bus card and when i type in e-careers it says your place of study is not valid??
Hmmm. Try Ecareers without the dash…
This seems to also work even if you don’t buy the eCareers course? Just select eCareers as your place of study when applying for the NUS card – there’s no actual check that you’ve signed up to an eCareers course as far as I can tell (at least it got me all the way to the final payment screen – I’ve already got an NUS card so didn’t actually go through with the purchase).
Thanks JT, yes I had heard that. It’s possible they verify with the email used for eCareers before sending the card out, but I don’t know. Overall though I think if too many people did this (and if it works) they might close the loophole, so I’d be happy to pay an extra £8 or £9 if it means I can do it each year. Thanks for letting me know though!
Sorry but the £9 LivingSocial course deal is over. Any other cheap course which can work?
Typical! It’s been live for ages and ends now! I’ve found a couple for £9.99 which I’ll add in when I get back home from work.