My name is Robin Parker and, as President, I head up the 12 other executive officers who lead the organisation.
Over the past three years, your predecessors have campaigned together and won:
• an extra £15m for college bursaries
• £30m worth of grants and loans for higher education students
• An additional £2m for student parents and a lone-parent entitlement
• A tenancy deposit scheme, saving students over £200 during their degrees
The hard work of your students’ associations has resulted not only in the Scottish Council of Voluntary Organisations awarding us the ‘Campaign of the Year’ Award 2011 for our Budget for Bursaries campaign, but also, through our pre-election Reclaim Your Voice campaign, a newly elected Scottish Parliament which has committed to:
• Improving student support
• Protecting graduate numbers and college places
• Ruling out tuition fees
There are plenty of challenges facing us over the year to come, as institutions face tight budgets, the Government threatens further cuts as it sets its budgets for the next few years, and as the effects of the English fees-regime begins to make its effect felt in Scotland as Universities begin to decide what fees they will charge students from other parts of the UK.