With student debt, already in excess of £20,000 and a fees review around the corner this is the time for Students’ Union to stand up and be counted.

This week, NUS launches our Town Takeovers. An integral part of the broader Funding Our Future campaign, looking to pressurise political parties and candidates into taking the issue of fees seriously, and break the cosy coalition of silence between all major parties.

But NUS will not win on our own, we need Students’ Unions up and down the country thinking about how you can help build up the momentum and pile on the pressure.

There are so many ways you can get involved, and this is a plea to every single SU to do something more:

Encourage students to write to their local MP, opposing any attempts to lift the cap and encourage them to read the NUS Blueprint for an alternative model.

Arrange for a one-to-one meeting with your MP to raise the issue in person.

Bring some students along to a surgery your MP will hold.

Organise a debate on campus which encourages representatives of all political parties, and other stakeholders in the HE sector to give their view on the issue.

Consider how you can ensure this isn’t just an issue for students, but for the local community going into schools and colleges, and community groups.

The consequences of a lifting of the cap are horrendous. A marketplace of fees, where students are forced to make their decisions based on how much debt they can afford to take on, rather than which is the right course and institution is right for them.

With the fees review likely to be announced imminently, it is a privilege to be part of the student movement at the current time. We have the opportunity to ensure that the market is kicked out, and that there can be a new way of getting students to engage with their higher education experience.

Don’t let this moment pass you by. Play a role, get involved and make a difference.

For more information, please check out the Funding Our Future section of our website.

In unity,

Aaron Porter

E: aaron.porter@nus.org.uk

T: www.twitter.com/AaronPorter

Town Takeover dates –

 20-21 Oct – Liverpool

22-23 Oct – Bristol

02-03 Nov – Sheffield

04-05 Nov – Manchester

17-18 Nov – Southampton

19-20 Nov – Reading

24-25 Nov – Newcastle

26-27 Nov – Cambridge

01-02 Dec – London

03-04 Dec – Birmingham

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