Picture Credit: Kevin Wilkins

This week has witnessed a series of defeats for advocates of top-up fees. In the annual report on university applications UCAS reported a 5.8% rise in applicants this year a statistic initially celebrated by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills as a sign of the success of fees.

In reality the picture is bleak for the future of higher education as the impact of fees is slowly becoming apparent.

The National Union of Students report that there has been a drop of 1.24% from applicants of working class backgrounds, the very socio-economic group that the government claimed would be aided by the introduction of fees.

Simultaneously, the government have announced that £100 million will be diverted away from the public spending budget on higher education in September 2008.

This is a vast dent in the funding of education and means that those students applying for courses deemed “lower” shall not have access to financial support.

This is most likely to effect institutions which have made gains in widening participation as students working on a second degree, working part time, disabled students and postgraduate students will be the greatest effected.

In total it is estimated that 20% of part time students will be left with no support.

A report commissioned by Lord Leach has suggested that this will have a disastrous impact on the future of higher education and wider society as a whole. Lord Leach reported that “life long learning is key to a strong knowledge based economy.”

Once again this demonstrates that the Government’s agenda for privatisation, higher fees and the diversion of funds from the Higher education system is not reaping the benefits predicated, and guaranteed, by its supporters.

Portsmouth Students’ Union officially stands against top-up fees, against spiralling student debt and against the continued privatisation of education.

Your Union will continue to campaign for a fairer education system based on the ability to learn, not the ability to pay.

Comments have been closed for this article

 

 

I think it's absolutely outragous! This government are ruining our education system through complete and utter incompitence. To express my dissatisfaction I don't see any other way but to vote Liberal Democrats. There doesn't seem to be any other party with a conscience.

Phoebe (MSc business and management) - Tue, 26 Feb 2008