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Press Release

Lord Browne Review: NUT response

12 October 2010

Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers' union, said;

"Yet again we see education proposals being put forward which will simply drive a wedge between the opportunities afforded to those with money and those without. The raising of tuition fees will mean that many less well off families will simply not be able to countenance the increased costs that students will have to bear after qualification. It will be a disaster for social justice and for the economy.

"Raising fees to £5,000 would be likely to cause a 5% drop in applications from certain socio-economic backgrounds. Research by Leicester University says we would see a potentially disastrous drop in numbers in applications. For example, London Metropolitan University accepted 6,115 Black Minority & Ethnic (BME) students in 2007/08; almost as many as the 7,815 BME students spread between the 20 universities of the Russell Group. The raising of fees would impact severely on working class and BME students.

"It's clear that diversity in our universities will also be affected by a substantial cut in teaching funding and the removal of all financial support from the state for arts, humanities and languages degrees. Restricting funding to specific courses will also result in a more selective higher education, potentially denying access to certain students creating a decrease rather than an increase in social mobility.

"In the light of these proposals I cannot see how Lord Browne's suggestion of a radical overhaul of careers advice given to students can mean anything other than dissuading the majority from going to university.

"If the 50% target of young people attending higher education is dropped, opportunities will be restricted. No matter how these proposals are dressed up what they will create are elite institutions catering for a minority of better off students. Education is the major factor in social mobility. If these proposals go ahead social justice will be the casualty."



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National Union of Teachers

National Union of Teachers

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