Who writes for The Tab and can students contribute?

Updated

The Tab publishes stories, guides, reviews, and commentary written by students at top universities, and students can contribute by pitching or submitting tips through the site's contact and tips channels. The site describes itself as "written by students at top Universities," so the dominant byline voice is student-authored rather than a fully professional newsroom. If you want to write for it, treat it as a student-facing outlet where you pitch an idea or send a tip, not a formal open-submission portal with a public editorial workflow.

Who writes for The Tab

The Tab's own description states its content is "written by students at top Universities." Its coverage spans breaking stories, fashion, nightlife, guides, reviews, sports, and comment, and it organizes university-specific sections for institutions including Belfast, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bristol, Brookes, Cambridge, Cardiff, Coventry, Durham, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, King's, Lancaster, Leeds, Lincoln, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Oxford, Sheffield, Southampton, St Andrews, Sussex, University of East Anglia, Warwick, and York.

That structure tells you two things about authorship:

  • Student perspective is the point. The tone and subject matter — campus life, nightlife, viral trends, reality TV, student politics — are framed around what students at those universities are talking about.
  • It is not a single-campus paper. Because it lists many universities, contributors are distributed across those institutions rather than concentrated in one newsroom.

The site's navigation also separates hard campus news ("UNIS," "News," "Politics," "Opinion") from entertainment and lifestyle verticals ("Entertainment," "Viral," "Netflix," "Reality Shrine," "Film Shrine," "Guides"). A student contributor's beat usually falls into one of these lanes.

Can students contribute?

Yes — the site provides a "Tips" channel in its main navigation, alongside "Contact" and "Advertise." That is the practical route for a student who wants to:

  • Pitch a story idea they think fits a campus or trending vertical.
  • Send a tip about something happening at their university.
  • Flag a correction or follow-up on an existing story.

The evidence supports that these channels exist and are part of the site's public structure. It does not specify a formal application form, a paid contributor program, or a guaranteed response time, so do not assume any of those. If you pitch, describe the story, why it matters to that university's students, and what you can uniquely provide (access, first-hand account, documents).

Is there an editorial review process?

The site presents itself as a publication with named verticals, a contact structure, and a tips line, which implies editorial handling of what gets published — but the available evidence does not detail a specific review workflow, fact-checking standard, or editorial hierarchy. What you can reasonably infer:

  • Tips and pitches are screened before becoming articles, because the site publishes edited stories rather than raw submissions.
  • Student authors are not the final gatekeepers of everything on the site; the presence of contact, advertising, and tips infrastructure points to an operating editorial layer.
  • Reliability varies by story type. Campus news and reported pieces will typically carry more verification than viral or opinion content, which is standard for this kind of outlet.

For a reader judging reliability: check whether a piece is labeled as news, opinion, or viral/entertainment, and whether it cites named sources or first-hand student accounts. For a contributor: expect your draft to be edited, and expect the outlet to decide framing and headline.

How to approach contributing

  1. Pick your vertical. Match your idea to a section — campus news for your university, or a lifestyle/entertainment angle if it fits Trends, Viral, or a shrine vertical.
  2. Use the Tips or Contact channel. These are the site's stated entry points; there is no documented public submission form beyond them.
  3. Lead with the student angle. The outlet's identity is student-written coverage of student-relevant topics, so explain why your university's students would care.
  4. Offer something specific. First-hand experience, a document, a quote from a named source, or access to a campus event is stronger than a general opinion pitch.
  5. Expect editing. Your submission is a pitch or tip, not a finished guaranteed article.

Quick reference

Question Answer
Who writes The Tab? Students at top universities, per the site's own description
Can students contribute? Yes, via the site's Tips and Contact channels
Is there a public submission portal? Not documented; Tips/Contact are the stated routes
Is there editorial review? Implied by the site's structure, but the workflow is not detailed
Which universities are covered? 30 listed UK universities, from Belfast and Birmingham to Warwick and York

If your goal is to write for a student audience and you have a campus-specific story, The Tab's tips channel is the place to start. If your goal is to judge whether a specific article is trustworthy, look at its section label and its sourcing rather than assuming all student-written content carries the same weight.