It is absolutely possible – and probably easier than you think – to get yourself a student card without being a student. There are some amazing savings and discounts available, so if you’re a savvy saver you should definetly have one.
Below we’ll go over how you can order yourself the official student card in less than 5-minutes today!
Jump to the step by step instructions further down the article by clicking here.
Why would I want one?
If you’re on the fence, here are a couple of awesome reasons why you would want to get one:
It will half what you pay for Amazon Prime every single year. You get 6 months free to start with – but you can only use this freebie once per Amazon account. Then you’ll only pay £39 a year for as long as you have a valid student card. That is half the price of the standard Prime membership which is £79, so you’ll save £40 every single year.
As a student card costs far less than the £40 you’ll save each year on a Prime membership alone, you’re saving with a student card even if you get one just for this reason.
But there’s much more…
With a student card you’ll get a free Cheeseburger, Chicken Mayo, or McFlurry every time you buy a meal in McDonlad’s.
Ever shop for food at Co-op – you’ll get 10% off!
The full list of discounts and savings available is huge and it’s constantly being updated with new and even better deals!
Explained: TOTUM Lite vs TOTUM Pro vs NUS Extra
TOTUM have now taken over from NUS Extra and provide the official student cards.
The difference between TOTUM Lite and TOTUM Pro – TOTUM Lite is free, TOTUM Pro you need to pay for.
The TOTUM Lite card is 100% free, but you’ll need to be an actual student to get verified and get it. You need to have a valid student email account to complete this verification.
The TOTUM Pro card is specifically for part time learners studying towards professional qualifications. Now that might be you, or it might not be, either way anyone can get one of these cards.
This is because when you sign up for an account and order a TOTUM Pro card – you’ll be selecting an online learning provider as your institution. These don’t provide you with a student email account so the verification is automatic!
So, how do I get a student card if I’m not a student?
First, here’s a handy link to the TOTUM website which will open up in a new tab for you!
When you click Join Now and sign up, you’ll need to enter an email address and password. You don’t need to use an official university email address – you can just use a personal one.
Next you’ll need to fill in some personal details, then you’ll be asked to select some options from a couple of dropdown menus.
You are asked – Qualification/Course level? & What are you studying?
To keep it simple, select Other for both of these.
You’ll then be asked – Year of course & When does your course end?
Again to keep it simple select Year 1 for year of course. If you want to order a 3-year student card, select a year from the drop down menu which is at least 3 years away.
Distance Learning Centre
The next page is usually what puts people off – you’ll be asked to enter Name of college, school, student union or training provider.
Here you want to enter – Distance Learning Centre. If you start typing this, it will appear in the drop down menu for you to select.
Then click Verify my student status – it will automatically be verified.
This is because even if you were doing a course with this learning provider, there would be no way for you verify it anyway!
Go for the maximum: 3 years
Next you can select the card you want, there is an option which comes with a recognised form of ID and costs more, but we just want the TOTUM Pro card.
Then decide how many years you want it for. These little loopholes often don’t last forever, so it’s definitely worth getting it for the maximum number of years you can.
Once you have the card, it doesn’t matter if they change the rules for new people signing up. You can still keep using your card for however long it is valid for.
Your options are:
- 1 year – £14.99
- 2 years – £24.99
- 3 years – £34.99
As we can’t pick it up from an actual university, we’ll also need to pay for postage – which is £1.50.
Then just upload a passport-ish style photo and some payment details and that’s it.
What if I lose my card?
You’ll get a card through the post, but you’ll also be able to use their app as well. The TOTUM app contains a huge list of all the discounts you can get with your new student card.
There is also a handy digital card on the app which you can show at retailers to get discounts in store. Great if you don’t want to carry the physical card, or if you lose it!
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