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Pages tagged “Universities”
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NUS responds as universities call for tuition fees to increase
Responding to calls from universities to increase tuition fees to solve the higher education funding deficit, Alex Stanley, Vice President Higher Education at the National Union of Students (NUS UK), said:
Written by NUS UK
September 17, 2024 -
Dismantle the hostile environment: NUS responds to decline in international student applications
New government figures show that applications to study in the UK by international students have dropped by 17% since 2023.
Written by NUS UK
September 12, 2024 -
Congratulations to everyone getting their results today!
To students getting their A Level, BTEC, T Level and other Level 3 qualifications today, we are proud of you.
Written by NUS UK
August 15, 2024 -
National Union of Students celebrates as OfS prevents use of non-disclosure agreements in cases of sexual harassment of students
NUS has been campaigning against the use of NDAs in cases of sexual violence in universities for 7 years.
Written by NUS UK
July 31, 2024 -
NUS UK defends students’ right to study what they choose following Conservative pledge to cut “low-value” degrees
The latest Conservative manifesto point pledges to cut degrees with high dropout rates, and low job progression and future earnings potential.
Written by NUS UK
May 29, 2024 -
NUS UK expresses concern about drop off in applications for healthcare and teaching degrees.
New UCAS data shows that applications for nursing, midwifery and teaching degrees have been dropping since 2021.
Written by NUS UK
January 18, 2024 -
NUS blasts 'shortsighted' cap on student numbers on ‘low value’ degrees
The National Union of Students (NUS) has criticised the Prime Minister’s plans to cap the number of students on courses the government considers “low value” and warned that the plans would affect students from disadvantaged backgrounds the most.
July 18, 2023 -
NUS UK response to £15m to support students in England
The UK Government has announced £15 million to support students with the cost of living, as well as a 2.8% increase to the maintenance package for students in England for 2023/24.
Responding, Chloe Field, NUS Vice President Higher Education, said:
“The government has finally recognised that the cost-of-living crisis is leaving our student communities on the brink, and that existing support has failed to reach them. That we have got here at all is down to the hard work and relentless campaigning of the student movement over the past six months.
“We welcome this investment of £15 million into university hardship funds. It’s vital that these funds are made accessible to as many students as soon as possible. Ultimately, hardship funds are a quick fix to a long-term problem which has come to a head in the cost-of-living crisis.
"The government must go further to protect students in the long term, by increasing the value of the maintenance package, implementing a rent freeze and further controls on spiralling student rent, reducing transport costs and increasing the minimum wage for apprentices and young people.
"The 2.8% increase in the maintenance loan for 2023/24 is woefully inadequate and will leave students over £1,500 worse off than they would have been if student support was tied to inflation. More than a quarter of students are living on less than £50 a month after rent and bills. If maintenance support continues to lag behind inflation, the number of students in poverty is only going to increase."
January 11, 2023 -
42% of UK university students living off £100 or less a month
9 in 10 students’ mental health impacted by cost of living as confidence in government falls to record low.
A quarter of students say financial worries are having a major impact on their mental health, as increasing numbers cut down on essentials, according the new research.
A survey of more than 4,500 UK university students, carried out by the National Union of Students (NUS), found that 96 per cent are making cutbacks, with over half spending less on food, another half heating their homes less regularly, and one in ten cutting back on sanitary products. Three quarters also report socialising less to save money.
More than a quarter of students are left with less than £50 a month after covering rent and bills, and 42 per cent are surviving off less than £100.
These findings come as more than 1,000 people wrote to their MPs demanding urgent student cost-of-living support in the Budget. Less than one in 10 students think the Government is doing enough to support them with the cost of living.
Students are increasingly turning to their family or savings for help, but 77 per cent said the cost-of-living crisis had affected the income of someone who supports them financially, highlighting that alternative sources of support are drying up.
The survey found no significant improvements for students since the last survey in June, despite the introduction of support for energy bills this autumn.
Despite soaring inflation and energy bills, the undergraduate student maintenance package in England has risen just 2.3 per cent this year and students have been excluded from existing government support.
NUS is calling on the Chancellor to announce a student support package as part of the Autumn Budget on Thursday, which also falls on International Day of the Student.
Seven per cent of students think the government has done enough to help them, lower than in June, and 11 per cent think their student support is sufficient to cover energy bills.
NUS warned that those who cannot rely on family to top up their student support are risking their studies by picking up more work, or dropping out of education entirely.
Students and parents have been urging MPs across the country to stop neglecting them. They echoed NUS’ calls for a student support package, which would include tying maintenance support to inflation and giving students access to Universal Credit.
NUS has also called for a cap on spiralling student rent, a boost to hardship funds and adjusted maintenance loan thresholds to reflect changes to family income. In the long term, NUS is campaigning for changes to secure the future of students, including the return of maintenance grants, more affordable housing, and ultimately the abolition of tuition fees.
November 16, 2022 -
NUS UK response to UCU strikes announcement
70,000 university staff across the UK to strike on 24th, 25th and 30th November.
The NUS UK Officer Team, including the Presidents of NUS Scotland, NUS Wales and NUS-USI, said:
“Students stand in solidarity with the 70,000 university staff across the UK who will strike later this month. Staff teaching conditions are students’ learning conditions, and we must fight together for a fairer, healthier education system for everyone who works and studies.
“This is the fifth year in a row that government cuts to education and slashes to workers' rights have resulted in strike action on our campuses. In that time, staff and students have stood together in the fight for better pay and conditions for all university staff, including the thousands of postgraduate students on increasingly casualised contracts.
“The struggles we face as students are inextricably linked to the reasons that staff are striking. High rents, astronomical international student fees, and cuts to maintenance support have happened for the same reasons that staff are suffering under huge workloads - the failed marketisation of the sector which has put profit above staff and student well-being.
“Universities and employers must come to the table and take meaningful action to end these disputes. They have a responsibility to their staff and students to end unacceptable pay disparities for racialised staff, disabled staff, and women, and to protect staff pensions to that they can have a decent retirement. As the workers of the future, students have everything to gain from UCU members winning this fight."
November 08, 2022