On Sunday 29 October, students and student officers from across the country will descend on London to show our anger at the new regime of top-up fees being implemented in England for the first time and to work to ensure that the cap of £3,000 per year is not lifted.

As top-up fees come into England, 17,000 fewer students have applied to courses. That’s 17,000 people that will not realise their dreams or potential because the fear of getting into £thousands of debt has put them off. At the same time, institutions that have set their fee levels lower than the maximum have seen their applications soar; not because students are suddenly much more interested in these courses, but because new students are basing their choice of course on its cost.

The notion that top-up fees only have an effect on England is false. Here in Scotland, the effects of these increased fees are also beginning to be seen. Principals and Vice-Chancellors of Scottish Universities are seeing the additional resources entering English Higher Education and beginning the calls for similar funding increases in Scotland. The retiring Chair of Universities Scotland, John Archer, made the arguments for top-up fees the focus of his leaving address describing their introduction in Scotland as ‘inevitable’ if Scottish Universities are to compete with their rivals south of the border.

The Scottish Executive has already begun the process of legislating to minimise what they see as the negative effects of English top-up fees on Scottish Higher Education. The recently passed Student Fees (Specification)(Scotland) Order, that NUS Scotland lobbied heavily against, saw the Scottish Parliament introduce the first ever variable fee into Scotland as a direct result of English top-up fees.

Students coming from England to study in Scotland now have to pay £1,700 per year. This is calculated to be the equivalent of paying three years worth of top-up fees spread across a four year degree. But even more worryingly, students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland doing medical courses in Scotland now face fees of £2,700 per year – Scotland’s first variable fee. How long will it be before other courses follow the same lead as medicine, and what will happen if the Students Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) decides only to pay the basic rate, leaving Scottish students doing these courses to cough up the remaining £1,000 each year? These are scenarios we never wish to see, but that will become all the more likely if the £3,000 cap in England rises.

If the cap is lifted, it is unclear what the Scottish Executive would do in response. One thing is certain however, that any increase in the English cap would have an effect in Scotland and that effect would certainly be detrimental to Scotland’s students.

NUS Scotland will be running buses to the national demonstration. More details will be available shortly, however we need the support of all students’ associations in Scotland to ensure that the buses are full of students and that Scotland makes a big impression when we arrive in London on 29 October.

So, as Freshers approaches, it is more important than ever that we sign up for the coaches and join students from across the UK on the demonstration, as it’s up to all of us to keep Scotland top-up free.

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