The Cambridge University Students’ Union (SU) has recorded financial losses for the second year in a row, according to its latest accounts.

In the 2023-24 financial year, the SU reported a deficit of £4,766, having spent £1,493,531 despite only receiving £1,488,765 in income. This marks the second consecutive year that the SU has spent more than it raised.

In 2022-23, the Union recorded an overspend of £112,898, the first time it had gone over budget since its formation in 2020. That year, it raised £1.3 million but spent £1.42 million. In its first two years of operation, the SU had consistently reported budget surpluses.

Cambridge SU was created in 2020 through a merger of the Cambridge University Students’ Union (CUSU) and the Graduate Union. It is a registered charity and receives most of its funding through a block grant from the University, alongside contributions from individual colleges to support services such as the Student Advice Service.

A spokesperson for the SU's Board of Trustees stated: “The SU is always looking for ways to identify efficiencies and ensure the best value for students. This includes annual reviews of spending and a budget that is sent to the Annual Student Members Meeting. In previous years, we have returned a surplus, and are on track to make one this year (2024/25).

“It is, therefore, not unexpected that we may return an overspend in other years. This is always based on the charity’s needs and any circumstances which arise. As a services-based charity, we require staff to deliver services to students. The independent Student Advice Service, for instance, employs a team of professional advisors to deliver advice to students.

“Students have been able to scrutinise these accounts, including the details of where the money is spent, since they were published in draft in March 2025, and they have been publicly available on the Charity Commission website since April 2025,” they continued

Last year, the SU was criticised by its postgraduate president Vareesh Pratap, who questioned if there were “severe financial irregularities or corruption that are being tried to be concealed,” in an open letter campaign.

Pratap also criticised the SU for spending too much on staff, claiming that around 80% of their budget had gone towards wages.

These irregularities led Emmanuel College MCR to schedule a meeting to discuss disaffiliation with the SU over its lack of transparency and effective representation for postgraduate students.

Corpus Christi remains the only college as of present to be formally disaffiliated from the Students’ Union. This occurred in 2010, amid concerns that the financial relationship between the two institutions had become untenable.