► 'Fund our Future' and beyond...

In 2010/11, NUSU was incredibly active in fighting to resist the rise in tuiton fees as proposed in the Browne Review and subsequently passed by Parliament. In November 2010, NUSU led a delegation of hundreds of students to the 'Fund our Future' demonstration in central London as organised by NUS. This 50,000 strong event was a tremendous show of strength for the national student movement, strength we continued to witness on our own campus. A group of students occupied a University building for 19 days, NUSU led a successful postcard signing campaign which gathered thousands of signatures, and walk outs and protests became commonplace in Newcastle City Centre.

Despite this, in December 2010, Parliament passed the rise in tuition fees with a slender majority. As we predicted, Newcastle University in common with most universities in the country, soon announced undergraduate tuition fees would be set at £9000 a year from 2012.

Newcastle University students can be proud of the impact of this campaign. Liberal Democrats, having signed that famous pledge to oppose tuition fee rises, have been discredited as a political voice of students leading to the collapse in their vote in Newcastle local council elections in 2011. NUSU continue to work to oppose market influence in higher education and are working to protect students from the impact of these changes. This is a campaign which will be ongoing and we encourage students to get involved in whatever way that they can.

 

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