Rally in Kennington Park

The Times

December 03, 2002

Students to demonstrate against costs

Students from across the country will march through central London tomorrow protesting about lack of funding and the prospect of rising tuition fees.

The demonstration, which kicks off at the University of London Union at midday, will be attended by campaigners who are concerned about hardship and ever-increasing student debt.

"The demo is a vital opportunity for us to drill home the message to the government that top-up fees will cripple higher education and stop thousands of people from being able to attend university," said Mandy Telford, President of the National Union of Students (NUS).

"We do not want a situation where access to university is determined by wealth as opposed to ability."

The event will culminate in a rally in Kennington Park, where the crowd will be addressed by Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour MP.

The NUS has calculated that in seven years' time it will cost £40,000 to put a child through the university system. The organisation, which based its estimate on the Government's university funding discussion paper, says that paying full tuition fees for a three-year course will cost £16,451, with a further £22,729 for living costs.

In a separate finding, the British Medical Association (BMA) has announced that the average debt of a medical student finishing university is nearly £13,000, with many owing £20,000 or more.

Liz Kingston, Deputy Chairman of the BMA's medical students committee, said: "It is feared that school leavers, particularly those from lower income families, are being deterred from applying to study medicine because of the huge debts they face."

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