Mr Burns, who had been NUS Scotland president, will also oppose any lecturers¡¯ strikes that disrupt exams for final-year students.

He advocates a graduate tax to fund higher education, which is the current NUS policy.

Mr Burns, 26, a physics graduate from Heriot-Watt University, was named as NUS president-elect after a ballot of delegates at the union¡¯s conference in Gateshead today.

Speaking to ³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ before the results were announced, he said his first priority would be ¡°rejecting the idea of students as consumers¡±.

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Mr Burns, a Labour party member, fears that the ¡°ultimate end of consumerism¡± would be: ¡°We no longer deal with universities on a partnership basis ¨C we deal with litigation.¡±

He links that stance to his Scottish background.

¡°A huge advantage coming from Scotland is that I have been insulated from the consumerisation of students,¡± he said. ¡°To be around student charters, league tables ¡­ I¡¯m actually fairly uncomfortable with that. That has given me a fresh eye, a bit more of a challenging outlook.¡±

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His second priority will be ¡°building for the next opportunity we get to dismantle the fees regime¡±, which he identifies as the next general election.

Mr Burns wants the NUS to ensure that ¡°no party can go into the election without a policy of scrapping the current system¡±.

He advocates a graduate tax. ¡°Higher education is not a universal service. It is not the NHS, it is not primary education¡­ I do not have a problem with rich graduates contributing something back, but without any price tag approach.¡±

Price tags dictate students¡¯ choice of university and subject, he argues, and ¡°that is what we need to get rid of¡±.

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His third priority is ¡°bringing our movement back together¡±. The current president, Aaron Porter, attracted fierce criticism from the student left over a perceived lack of support for protests and occupations, and did not seek re-election.

¡°I¡¯m quite clear we should be having another national demonstration,¡± Mr Burns said. His campaign literature called for a demonstration on the first anniversary of Parliament¡¯s passing of the fee rise. ¡°There will be a whole generation paying [?9,000] fees for the first time, a generation who had EMA stolen from them.¡±

One key issue for students may be strikes by the University and College Union, which is planning for ¡°maximum disruption¡± of examinations by mounting strikes over pension cuts in May.

Mr Burns pledged ¡°100 per cent support on pensions and job security¡± for the UCU.

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But he added of strikes: ¡°If it affects our final year assessment and ability to graduate, that is off the table. Our members are not pawns to be used in that way.¡±

Mr Burns stood as an independent, with backing from Labour Students.

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john.morgan@tsleducation.com