As part of the UK government austerity measures, universities budgets in England are being cut by £450m.
The issue of whether to raise the current cap of £3,225 on university tuition fees is currently under review. Some reports suggest that students may be asked to pay £7,000 a year, rising to £14,000 for more expensive courses such as sciences.
David Willetts minister for universities said that “students should consider university fees “more as an obligation to pay higher income tax” than a debt.”
UK, London – 15.06.09. Students from the School of Oriental and African Studies, SOAS occupied the director’s offices at the university in protest at the detention and deportation of nine cleaners. Immigration officials detained the cleaners after an early morning raid on Friday of last week. At least five have already been deported, some to Colombia, which has a record of targeting trade unionists.