The National Union of Students has elected its first president to not have attended university.
Toni Pearce, currently the union's vice president for further education, studied at Cornwall College, but never went on to a university education because taking three years 'out' to do so 'was not attractive to her'.
She was elected to serve as the NUS's new president at the union's annual conference in Sheffield on Tuesday.
The National Union of Students has elected its first president who has not attended university at its annual conference in Sheffield
Miss Pearce, 22, is currently serving a second term as the union’s vice president for further education.
In her current NUS role she has claimed Britain is 'run by Oxbridge' and admitted she 'can’t stand' Education Secretary Michael Gove, The Daily Telegraph reports.
Miss Pearce, who describes herself as a feminist, was brought up in Camborne, Cornwall, by her parents, an ex-Navy aircraft engineer and a chartered management accountant.
She won the election in the first round with 424 of 732 valid votes.
Speaking afterwards she said: 'I'm really proud to have been given the opportunity to build the student movement around a vision for public education, and to be leading NUS as we build towards the next general election.
'Between now and 2015 we need to hold a full and frank debate about what education means to society and to properly articulate the public value of education in communities up and down the country.'More than 450 of the student unions affiliated with the NUS are in further education (FE) colleges, the union said, and most of the students it represents are studying in FE institutions.