Anglia Ruskin Students' Union

The Town Takeover is fast approaching!

CLICK HERE FOR A MAP OF THE ROUTE

CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE PETITION

Important things to remember for the 26th

1. Wear RED

2. Meet outside the Helmore building at 12 noon!

3. Tell all your friends 

On Thursday the 26^th November students from Colleges and Universities in East Anglia (including Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge University, and the University of East Anglia) will unite in Cambridge in a protest called the Town Takeover. We will be protesting against the likely increase in tuition fees that will come as a result of an independent HE funding review commissioned by the government.

This campaign is taking place on a national level, with cities across the country being taken over by student protest. The campaign, for which this protest is in aid of, is called ‘Funding our Future’ and is run by the National Union of Students (NUS). Anglia Ruskin Students’ Union (ARSU) is spearheading this week’s protest in Cambridge. Last year ARSU’s Day of Action saw over 200 students flood the streets of Cambridge and rally to condemn both the current HE funding system and the government’s proposals. This year will be bigger and better with the current economic climate causing more and more young people to think seriously about how they will fund their future. The day will end with a debate between Wes Streeting (NUS President) Daniel Zeichner (Labour PPC Cambridge) Chris Howell (cllr) and chaired by Aaron Porter. The debate will be held at the Cambridge University Law faculty on West Road in Cambridge at 7pm and is a public event that anyone can attend.

The higher education funding review in question could mean that the cap is lifted on tuition fees for University. This will effectively allow Universities to charge whatever they want for tuition, which would in turn lead to poorer students being priced out of University altogether. The thought of graduating with a debt of £37,000 or even higher is enough to put off almost any potential student which may force them to attend a university suited to their bank balance rather than on academic merit.

“In the future students face being priced out of education if the HE tuition cap is lifted. Several potential students I have spoken to are now strongly reconsidering going to University solely because of the extortionate debt they would face after graduating. The proposed system would worsen inequality and curb social mobility Lord Mandelson so passionately believes the government’s new HE funding structure will help.” – Matthew East, President of Anglia Ruskin Students’ Union.