This weekend we had the pleasure of representing Concrete at the Student Publication Association National Conference, sharing all of your hard work with over 20 other student publications. We were shortlisted for nine awards and had the joy of coming away from the weekend with a total of five awards, crowning the year off with…
Save Our Union – from its own financial blunders
The Union of UEA Students (UUEAS) is experiencing financial difficulty after it underestimated costs in its July 2015-16 budget by £160,000, a Concrete investigation has uncovered. Since the oversight in the budget, UUEAS has burdened students with increased prices in union outlets, considered reducing sports clubs and has accused UEA of not giving enough funding…
UEA plans year-on-year rise in profit from halls rent
The university is set to increase rent for on-campus accommodation by an above-inflation 3.4% each year in a bid to increase the profit it makes by renting rooms to students. The news comes as union research, seen by Concrete, indicates that a third of UEA students think the university should prioritise bringing down the cost…
2016 may prove to be a bleak year for the EU
2016 is likely to be a defining year in the history of the European Union. Nearly just one month in to the year and already the evidence is clear: the continued problems caused by the migrant crisis has led to the collapse of open boarders and the British in-out EU campaigns have begun to up…
Free speech at UEA is at risk
Last week proved to be a very important week in relation to freedom of speech and censorship. First there was the revelation that universities may be made exempt from Freedom of Information (FOI) requests; then Spiked.com released its free speech university rankings, giving UEA a red (compared to last year’s green); and Friday was the…
UEA to give scholarships to Syrian refugees
UEA has announced that it is planning to provide a small number of scholarships for Syrian refugees. The announcement comes shortly after a petition created by the Union of UEA Students’ Migrant Solidarity Campaign began to circulate online. The Migrant Solidarity Campaign was set up at the beginning of the academic year. Since then, it…
Ed Balls: Labour should have fixed funding for higher education
The former Labour Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls has announced his frustration that the Labour Party was unable to “find a sustainable way forward for the financing of higher education”. Speaking in an interview to the Times Higher Education, Balls argued that the present £9,000 tuition fees system is “random and unprincipled” way to fund universities….
UEA student questioned by Special Branch over Isis course reading
A UEA student has been questioned by counter-terrorism police after accessing pro-Islamic State (Isis) material online as part of their course reading. Students taking Clash of Fundamentalisms, a third-year PPL module, were directed to read passages from Dabiq, the online Isis-supporting magazine. Concrete understands that links to the Islamist material were posted on Blackboard, but…
Homeless in Norwich this Christmas
On the 11th December the university term finishes and thousands of UEA students will begin to head home to celebrate Christmas at home with their families and friends. However, in Norwich there are hundreds of people who won’t have somewhere to call home over the Christmas period, many will be living in hostels, bed and…
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