Ms Pearce, who is currently NUS vice-president for further education, has pledged to campaign for a single admissions and applications system for all education and a financial support system that ¡°actually works for students¡±.

In her election manifesto, she also advocates the development of an ¡°activist development programme that reaches more students than ever before¡±.

Ms Pearce, formerly president of Cornwall College students¡¯ union, was named NUS president-elect after a ballot of delegates at the union¡¯s conference in Sheffield today in which she gained more than half of the valid votes. She is the first president not to have been educated at a higher education institution.

Speaking to Times Higher Education before the results were announced, she said her first task would be to set out the union¡¯s vision both with students and the public more widely.?¡°Education isn¡¯t just about the people in it at the moment,¡± she said.

ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ

¡°I¡¯m really proud we¡¯ve come to the point in the student movement when we can elect somebody from a college given that colleges represent the vast majority of our student movement.¡±

Ms Pearce added that the vote had not been a choice between higher education and further education.

ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ

¡°I¡¯m not just the FE candidate,¡± she said, outlining her vision for a ¡°single education system where universities and colleges aren¡¯t divided¡±.

¡°I want to lead a movement that¡¯s united around this vision for education,¡± she said.

Ms Pearce¡¯s election campaign had the support of outgoing president Liam Burns, who said: ¡°We had three exceptional candidates, and I¡¯m absolutely delighted that Toni has been elected the first NUS president from a further education background. The NUS is in safe hands.¡± Ms Pearce will take over as president on July 1.

Also contesting the final vote were NUS vice-president for union development Vicki Baars and Peter Smallwood, vice-president for academic representation at the Union of Brunel Students. Sam Gaus, who had entered the race as bearer of ¡°an inanimate carbon rod¡± withdrew his candidacy earlier today.

ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ

chris.parr@tsleducation.com