The Labour Party government announced that universities tuition fees will increase from September 2025. This shocking move has prompted a widespread backlash, not least from students themselves. So now, one group is already organising the fightback.
Tuition fees increase again
As the Canary previously reported, Labour has now raised tuition fees to £9,535 per year – up over £8,000 from when Tony Blair introduced them and over £500 more than when David Cameron hiked them massively.
The Keir Starmer-led government hasn’t ruled out a further increase.
Education secretary Bridget Phillipson referred to universities as “businesses” during an interview on Channel 4.
Phillipson said:
Like all businesses, it’s for universities to decide how they manage their budget. Universities are autonomous, independent institutions, they prize that
Academics and student representatives have a driving seat in the educational direction through the University Senate. There is also a regulatory framework from the Office of Students, which has a leadership that the government appoints.
The fact that Scotland has free university, without even having its own full monetary regime, shows tuition fees are completely ideological. Westminster provides a grant for this, while charging students in England at the point of use.
However, students are not taking the tuition fees increase lying down.
Students lead the fightback
Student activists from across the UK will be discussing the next steps on how students can fight back against the tuition fees increase at the Funding Not Fees rally, hosted by Socialist Students at the Socialism 2024 weekend at the Institute of Education in London on Sunday 10th November, 3-4pm.
This will be the first mass meeting of students since the fee rise announcement, organising the next steps for the movement to fight for free education.
The ‘Funding Not Fees’ campaign was launched, with the support of Socialist Students and other campus organisations, to demand that big business foots the bill for education, not students and workers. The campaign calls for fully publicly funded higher education, paid for by taking the wealth off the super-rich, as the means to:
- Scrap tuition fees and cancel student debt.
- Replace maintenance loans with living grants for all students.
- End low pay, job cuts and the casualisation of higher education workers.
Socialist Students had already taken action on the day of the Autumn Budget. This was in anticipation that Labour would increase tuition fees. Students protested in Manchester:
Liverpool:
Sheffield:
And Southampton:
With the Labour Party on a clear neoliberal agenda, it can expect students to lead the charge against its marketisation of education.
Featured image and additional images supplied
