student protests (7)

Angry students barricaded themselves into their university administration building last Thursday in protest over increasing top up fees.

In response to the protests, a meeting has been agreed to discuss the student concerns. Mary Monkton head of communications at the university said, “The vice- chancellor has agreed to meet representatives of the union next week.”

Police were called to the University of Runningham when security staff found evidence of intruders in the building.

A group of six students were found to have barricaded themselves into the vice chancellors office in an attempt to show how serious the issues surrounding student finance has become.

Amanda Donne, president of the university union said, "we are furious that this college has decided to charge the maximum £3000 in top up fees. The average student in the UK is already £15,000 in the red when they finish their degree and this is only going to get worse.”

She went on to explain how students had been lobbying the vice chancellor for weeks and that so far he had refused to meet them. The protest was a final stand by, “certain members of the student body who obviously felt strong enough about this that they decided to take positive action”.

The six students who have not been named are all believed to be studying fine art at the university

A police spokesperson confirmed that after some negotiation the students emerged and were taken to Woolley Green police station where they were later released without charge.

Since September 2006 annual tuition fees for fulltime undergraduates in England and Northern Ireland have increased from a flat rate of £1,175 to anything up to £3,000.

In theory these ‘differential fees’ means universities can charge anything between £0and £3000. Governmental discussions have taken place whether moves should be made to raise this £3,000 limit after 2010.

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