This year, applications to universities across the UK are down by 3.5 per cent. In England, we have seen a drop of 3.9 per cent. Meanwhile, applications to Scottish universities, where top-up fees do not exist, are up; as are applications to English universities like Leeds Met, which are charging less than the capped £3,000.

It may be too early to draw concrete conclusions, but the warning signs are plain for all to see: top-up fees are having a direct impact on the ability of students to enter university, reconsidering their choices, priced out the market and prohibited from accessing Higher Education.

We’re not just talking about numbers, we’re talking about people. The drop in admissions to university represents over 13,000 students – that’s 13,000 people denied the opportunity to experience student life and all the benefits and prospects that come with it.

This is exacerbating the inequality that already exists within our universities and is impacting directly on under-represented groups the government claims they want to encourage into Higher Education. Recent figures published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency demonstrate that students from BME groups are already participating less and less in HE, as are students from lower socio-economic groups. And who can blame them, when this year’s freshers are set to graduate with debts in excess of £30,000? We know that women will also be hard hit, suffering twice over from soaring levels of debt and the shocking gender pay gap that they face as graduates. We remain concerned that this regressive policy is hitting those that already face many barriers to accessing education.

Since the effects of this policy have begun to be felt, we’re also seen students choosing courses based on cost rather than suitability, the threat of bargain basement clearing places and vice-chancellors looking to protect themselves from the customers they’ve created with restrictive student contracts.

And the danger of the market doesn’t end there. If the cap comes off we know which institutions will charge more and which institutions will have to charge less.

More money for the so-called ‘elite’ institutions, which are still found frankly lacking when it comes to access; and less money for those which have been most successful when it comes to reaching out to the under-represented and the disadvantaged.

This gross inequity is not only unjust, it will serve to alienate students from the system and reinforce class inequality.

In response, this year will see a renewed and reinvigorated campaign from NUS to challenge these problems and fight for our vision of a truly accessible education system.

Our members are gearing up for our next battle to keep the cap and will not be letting the introduction of this destructive funding system take place quietly.

So if the cheese and wine lobby of the Russell Group think they’re in for an easy ride then they can think again: NUS is back and we are in fighting form.

2006 and 7 and will see MPs’ mail bags full and their surgeries brimming, vice-chancellors’ offices bombarded and thousands of students taking to the streets in protest against the new system. Students are angry and will be venting their frustrations both locally and nationally, letting their elected representatives and the pro-fees lobby know that we will not be taking this lying down.

NUS will be mirroring this action on a national level, ensuring that our approach to decision-makers is strategic and representative of our 5.3 million members.

We’ll also be making it clear that this policy really is damaging access to education. Evidence to support our argument is already building up: admissions figures, debt statistics and surveys of prospective students’ fears amongst others are being collated and we will ensure that those voices do not go unheard. But this year will also see NUS’ first fully costed alternative funding system. We will also be analysing how the system is impacting on prospective student choices this year, particularly from those groups who are already grossly under-represented.

And we’ll be working in partnership with Coalition 2010, our allies across the trade union movement and beyond, opposing further marketisation of our education system and unscrupulous efforts to lift the cap.

We’ve been accused over the past year of scare-mongering, of frightening students away with tales of debt and hardship. Nothing could be further from our goal. NUS has a proud history of arguing for expansion and access; but the pursuit of this goal can never be funded by saddling individual students and their families with soaring levels of debt for tuition and maintenance.

That’s why, alongside our work promoting access to Higher Education and all the opportunities this brings, NUS will be continuing to call for a free, fair and funded education.

On Sunday 29th October, students across the UK will be taking to the streets on London to defend access, to defend equality of opportunity and to defend our education system from the destructive forces of the market.

We hope you’ll join us there.

Wes Streeting

Vice-President (Education)

Admission: Impossible co-convenor

wes@nus.org.uk

07738 477 353

www.officeronline.co.uk/admissionimpossible

PS – on a final, personal, note: there were some who said that a Labour Student couldn’t be trusted to lead an effective campaign against top-up fees this year. I’m going to prove you wrong.

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