STUDENTS in Blackburn have elected a full-time students’ union president for the first time in the university’s history.

Mum-of-three Nicola Marsden-Clark, 31, was voted in by students at University Centre at Blackburn College.

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She said the creation of a students’ union and subsequent election of a leader were further evidence of the university’s growth. Nicola, who lives in Livesey, Blackburn, with husband Dave and children Mackenzie, 11, Olivia, eight, and harvey, five, now wants to help students and work with the university to help it improve.

She said: “This is a really good university to come to.

“It has more to offer because the classes are smaller so you get more one-to-one teaching, rather than being in a room with 300 people.

“There is a perception about coming to Blackburn as a university, but at the end of it you get a degree from top universities such as Lancaster, UCLan and South Wales.

“People just associate it with the town but they do not know what it is like here.”

Nicola, who graduated last week after successfully completing a social science degree at the St Paul’s Street university, said she was hopeful more student facilities would be built in the future. She said: “For a lot of students, particularly the younger ones, nightlife is a big issue and there is not a lot of that in the town.

“We are always looking for ways to improve things for students.

“But for us, the welfare of students is more important than creating a big new building.

“It is seen as the holy grail that you are not a real SU until you have a bar and a building of your own, and there are students who want that better social space.