Speaking at the annual conference of the National Union of Students in Sheffield, Liam Burns also emphasised the need for the NUS to be a campaigning union that faced up to the particular challenges faced by students.

Significantly, he argued against organising another national demonstration, saying ¡°we organised a demo [last] year, and it failed to have any impact whatsoever¡±. He cited the public¡¯s lack of sympathy for extra spending on universities in the current economic climate and the cost of demonstrating as his reasons.

Instead, Mr Burns said that the NUS should develop a policy and campaigning strategy that makes the case to the public of ¡°the value of education.¡±

Talking about NUS participation in a report called Pound in Your Pocket, which has researched the way that financial issues affect student¡¯s lives, he said that students working long hours for low pay during their studies was a ¡°scandal that has to be tackled¡±.

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He suggested that the financial difficulties students were facing while studying was currently a bigger issue for the NUS than tuition fees, but they would ¡°always come back¡± to the topic of fees.

Meanwhile, he also spoke about the issue of gender equality, which is high on the agenda at the conference due to a vote on whether to bring in policies that will improve representation for women in students¡¯ unions.

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Mr Burns, who steps down as president this year, said problems like male majorities in student union sabbatical positions were ¡°unacceptable¡±. The conference also applauded the success of the recent NUS report on ¡°lad culture¡± in universities and Mr Burns said ¡°it is about time we called out sexual harassment dressed up as ¡®banter¡¯¡±.

He also argued that job prospects and work were some of the most pressing student issues. ¡°Work is central to everybody¡¯s lives, we need a vision for work,¡± he said.

Today the NUS has published a report commissioned from the New Economics Foundation, which Mr Burns described as ¡°startling¡± for the grim picture it painted of today¡¯s students¡¯ long-term employment outlook.

¡°While previous generations may have looked on the job market as a land of opportunity, this generation looks on it as an abyss,¡± he said.

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He concluded his speech by saying that the NUS should work to practise ¡°good politics¡± that was positive and pragmatic and not about ¡°abstract arguments¡±.