Tuition fees could be cut after the new universities minister signalled a review of student finance earlier this month. On Thursday 19 January, Sam Gyimah said officials would investigate whether the higher annual charge of £9,250 “works across the system”. His predecessor, Jo Johnson, and former Education Secretary Justine Greening are alleged to have blocked…
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Universities to offer two year degrees
Universities in England will be able to charge over £14,000 per year for two year ‘fast-track’ degrees, under new plans announced by the government. Students would obtain a Bachelor’s degree in two years, rather than three, but universities would still be able to charge for the equivalent of three years’ tuition, as the education would…
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We’re not getting our money’s worth
You walk into a lecture theatre and rush for the last seat. The person you overtook in the corridor looks around the room, slightly panicked and resigns himself to sitting on the steps at the side of the room. Fifteen minutes pass and your lecturer saunters in, apologises for being late, and starts playing a…
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Poorer students should be given lower Ucas offers, government recommends
Universities should accept lower offers from students with disadvantaged backgrounds, a government review has recommended. A Social Mobility Advisory Group, report set up to address issues surrounding underrepresented groups in higher education, has proposed that students “held back by poverty” should be given lower A-Level requirements. The report suggested that institutions should enforce “positive discrimination”…
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University admits tuition fee rise is “disappointing”
Undergraduate tuition fees for UK and EU students at the University of East Anglia are expected to rise to £9,250 a year, subject to governmental approval. The fee increase follows cuts to government grants to the university sector. A statement announcing the expected rise in fees on the Staff News section of the UEA website…
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Could the scrapping of the maintenance grant be the final nail in the coffin for social mobility in the UK?
This summer, I found myself sitting in a garden in LlanddewiBrefi, Wales, talking to my little sister about her future. She was about to start her second of Sixth Form, and I was keen to find out if she – like her two older sisters before her – was going to apply to Oxbridge; as…
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Maintenance grants scrapped in summer budget
In today’s Budget it was announced that maintenance grants, aimed at the poorest in society to provide financial assistance while studying at university, are to be scrapped by the government and that the £9,000 cap on tuition fees is set to rise. At 12:30 today the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, stood up in…
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UEA’s Vice Chancellor condemns Labour’s Party’s tuition-fee pledge
In a move that may appear come as music to cash-strapped students’ ears, Ed Miliband has announced that “tuition fees would be capped at £6,000 a year under Labour”. However, this announcement from the party leader has sparked concerns among universities that some students will delay applying to university this year to avoid paying up…
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Clegg claims students will still vote for Liberal Democrats at election
Leader of the Liberal Democrat Party, Nick Clegg, has recently denied the suggestion that undergraduate students will not vote in his Party’s favour at the polls. Instead, he affirmed that students were still open to hearing the Liberal Democrat policies, despite the failure of the Party to adhere to their previous promise not to raise…
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