Bristol SU meets with MPs to voice tuition fee concerns in Parliament

By Lenny Osler, News Reporter

A panel discussion was held in Portcullis House, chaired by Alex Sobel MP. He was joined on the panel by Josh Dean MP, Saranya Thambirajah and Alex Stanley from the National Union Students (NUS), Rose Stephenson from the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI), and representatives from two students’ unions.

Delegates from students’ unions across the UK, including Bristol SU, raised concerns to the panel about the government’s plans to increase tuition fees in line with inflation, as well as the implications of the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper.

Katie Poyner, Bristol SU’s Union Affairs Officer, highlighted concerns about the plans for institutions of ‘higher quality’ to be able to charge higher fees under the new White Paper. She spoke to Epigram after the meeting, saying:

‘If student representation is effective and it does improve teaching quality standards in the university educational realm, that could be linked to tuition fee increases, which is at direct odds with what representatives want to do.’

Interview with Alex Sobel MP | Epigram / Alp Kobanbay

Before the event, Epigram spoke to Saranya Thambirajah, a representative from the NUS. She criticised the link between the quality of institutions and higher fees, saying it ‘risks forcing students from widening participation backgrounds into potentially lower quality courses.’

‘It would create an unfair, staggered system’, she added.

Another issue raised during the meeting was the cost of living. Katie highlighted the problem of the ‘one-size-fits-all approach’ to maintenance loans for students outside of London.

‘Regional disparity is something that really should be considered’, she argued, citing the SU’s Loans that Last campaign from last year. The general maintenance loan ‘isn’t enough to address the core living cost … …especially in Bristol, which is like, the second most expensive city to live in’, she added.

Reflecting on the event, Katie said that the APPG is ‘definitely a good mechanism’ to influence policy. But she added that there are ‘so many other ways that you can get involved, like through emailing or student council.’

Big Ben | Epigram / Alp Kobanbay

Speaking to Saranya on maintenance grants returning for certain courses, she said, ‘we would like to see this expanded to all students who need it, not just for particular courses.’

Discussing students from marginalised backgrounds, she argued the policy would be ‘forcing their hand as to which courses they’ll apply for.’

Epigram also spoke to Alex Sobel MP, chair of the event. He was surprised by the introduction of maintenance grants by the government, which was one of his ‘big recommendations.’

However, he acknowledged concerns about the levy on international student fees, which will be used to fund the reintroduced maintenance grants.

‘There’s a lot of international students I know whose families really struggle to get them here and actually haven’t really got enough money’, he said.

As a result, he warned the levy could result in universities having ‘to close departments or even close entirely.’ This would ‘put the student maintenance grant at risk because that’s the funding stream’, he added.

Epigram asked Alex how to improve government accountability to students, since no government ministers had attended the APPG event. He emphasised the need for ‘government lobby events’ to allow students to influence higher education policy.

He said the government should ‘not just sit in rooms with university vice-chancellors’, who ‘don’t represent the entirety of interest.’

When asked about future changes, he noted that the abolition of tuition fees was an ideal goal, however was ‘probably just not at this time economically viable.’

Featured Image: Epigram / Alp Kobanbay