Student discounts you only have to prove once

This page gathers discounts for students at UK universities and colleges in one place. Offers marked “Unlock with Vouchernaut” unlock in one tap once you've confirmed your student email here: we send a six-digit code to your .ac.uk address, you type it in, and you're verified for 12 months. The other discounts are run by the stores themselves, and each card says who checks that you're a student.

How does the student check work?

The check proves one thing: that you can read email at a UK university or college address. You type your .ac.uk address, we send a six-digit code to it, and once you type the code in you're verified as a student for 12 months.

If you're signed in, the status stays on your Vouchernaut account for the whole 12 months. If you verify as a guest, it lasts for that browser session, and you can keep it on an account afterwards. Brands only learn that you're a verified student, not your email address, unless you choose to share your details for a particular offer.

Which email addresses count?

Any address ending .ac.uk can receive the code. The ac.uk namespace is managed by Jisc and is mostly given to research and education institutions. The address doesn't always match the university's website, though: Open University students have addresses ending @ou.ac.uk, and the OU's own help pages point out that open.ac.uk and my.open.ac.uk are common mistakes.

Personal addresses such as Gmail, Outlook or iCloud say nothing about where you study, so the check refuses them. If your school or college gives you an address that doesn't end .ac.uk, our email check can't confirm it yet. The stores' own checks may still accept you, since UNiDAYS and Student Beans can also verify you through your institution's learning portal or an uploaded document.

How do offers you unlock with Vouchernaut differ from the rest?

This page lists two kinds of discount, and the label on each card tells you which is which. Offers marked “Unlock with Vouchernaut” come from brands that accept our check, so once you're verified the code or link appears in one tap.

Everything else is a student discount the store runs itself, often through UNiDAYS or Student Beans and sometimes through its own check. Each card says who checks before you click, and where a card names UNiDAYS or Student Beans, you verify with that scheme at the store. Vouchernaut isn't connected to UNiDAYS, Student Beans, TOTUM or any university.

Who counts as a student?

Who counts as a student depends on who runs the discount, which is why the note on each card matters. UNiDAYS describes itself as being for sixth form, college and university students, and its support pages add apprentices, trainees and students on professional placements, with postgraduates still eligible. Student Beans says it's open to anyone over 16 in full-time education, including university, college, sixth form and high school, and to apprentices.

NUS's TOTUM card is for students aged 16 and over in further or higher education, on an accredited course needing at least 10 hours of study a week for 12 weeks, or 120 hours in total. UNiDAYS doesn't accept a TOTUM card as proof of student status. Our own check looks only at whether you can receive a code at a .ac.uk address.

What happens when you finish your course?

A status lasts 12 months from the day you verify, and when it runs out you confirm again with an address that still works. Universities keep student accounts open for different lengths of time after a course ends: Royal Holloway says six months, Birmingham City University 24 months and Queen's University Belfast two years.

Student discounts are meant for people who are still studying. That's why UNiDAYS refuses addresses containing "alumni" and Student Beans asks members to re-verify every year. An address that outlives your course doesn't make you a student for these offers, and you can remove your status from your account at any time.

When is it worth verifying?

I'd verify before you need a discount rather than at the checkout, because the code goes to your university inbox, and that's easier to deal with when you're not halfway through paying. Verifying at the start of the academic year also lines the 12 months up with your year of study. The status then works for student offers you unlock with Vouchernaut on store pages as well as here.