I am a UK student with nowhere to turn but to the internet to air my grievances with the university system in the UK. There is a huge injustice in the way the UK universities are run, which has led to my leaving the Labour party after being considered a staunch supporter: but people are either too blind or arrogant to see that everything that is happening is leading to trouble.
When I was 16, having no political voice or power to decide on which government would enter Parliament, the Higher Education Act 2004 was signed. This led to top up fees of £3000 per year being charged to students in UK universities. Even this I would not mind, but for the fact that not everyone is charged such fees: English students must pay £3000 for all universities, Scottish people must pay the old fees (around £1,300 a year) in their own universities as do the Welsh.
Even this is would not be such a huge problem (apart from the fact that the bill was passed with only a majority of 3 MPs- and 46 Scottish MPs voted on the issue which would not affect Scotland), but for the fact that Scottish universities charge European students from outside the UK only £1,300 as well!
This means that non-UK students are being prioritised in Scotland over English UK students when it comes to the admission of students in Scottish institutions. Furthermore, in 2007 it was announced by the Scottish Parliament that as of next year Scottish students will get free university tuition once again, and a year later grants to students will be re-implemented.
I was once a member of the Labour party and a unionist, but the very fact that the Higher Education Act was passed by a majority relying on Scottish MPs and only works in Scotland to discriminate against the English enrages me.
Such laws only work to feed resentment, and the fact that the UK taxpayers (predominantly English) are paying for free Scottish universities (as Scotland is a net tax receiver) is an outrage.
To add insult to injury, all of the jobs associated with student finance (ie the Student Loans Company), are located in Scotland. Even though Scottish universities are free for Scottish residents, and even though the Scottish students face none of the penalties for attending higher education, all of the jobs related to universities go to those who have no right to them.
Please comment on this blog to show me if I really am the only one who feels that this is an unjust system, or to correct any facts which I may have got wrong.
notsteph
Short,
As someone from Scotland who went to an English university, I may be the opposite of the person you are looking to attract here. However, your points are very interesting and in a lot of cases, spot on.
You are absolutely correct in saying it is a scandal where MP’s for Scottish (and Welsh) constituencies can vote on matters that will not affect their constituents and I am absolutely amazed there is not more disquiet about it. Its not like no-one saw this coming (Damn, it hurts praising Tam Deyell) and provisions should have been put in place deal with it. The problem with devolution is that it was dealt with in a Scottish and Welsh vacuum – no-one did anything about how it would affect the UK government.
The obvious solution (other than the break up of the UK, and it doesn’t look as if people are anxious to vote for that soon) is to take away Scottish and Welsh MP’s voting rights on English only issues. The problem with this is, it could lead to a government who cannot get through any legislation on certain issues, meaning certain areas – such as health – being neglected to the detriment of everyone.
The other, I’d say better, solution is to federalise the UK and build an English parliament in Manchester or something to deal with English only issues. This would totally revolutionise UK government and bring about another set of elected officials, which I’m pretty sure there’s no public appetite for, so its probably a no go.
So, as for what to do about this – dunno, but we should have sorted it out before doing anything.
With regard to the discrimination against English students by Scottish universities, I’d say it’s more an incentive for foreign students. The Scottish government is very keep for EU and non-EU students (See the FTI scheme) to come and study in Scotland, with the hope that they will stay and contribute to the country and the end of their studies. With education matters being devolved, this is just a matter of the government in Edinburgh being more proactive than the one in London and creating a competitive advantage for Scotland. My question would be, why have the UK government not created similar schemes?
Whether Scotland is a net tax receiver or not is debatable. We certainly receive more public spending per head, but that is not the same thing. See http://www.alba.org.uk/index.html for a different reading than the government on Scotland’s contributions to the UK economy. I’m not going to claim to be able to vouch for its authenticity, but it’s certainly well researched. Go to the menu and click on ‘Scotching the Myth’ and then ‘The Great Deception GERS 2005’. The direct link doesn’t work – I don’t know why. If you don’t want to read all that, the edited highlights are that we get charged for Trident and they don’t count the oil as ours.
The Student Loans Company is an interesting point, but you have to remember that the SLC was set up when the playing field was even. Also, Scottish students do incur debts, trust me I know. Even if you were to move the SLC to somewhere in England, the cost would be enormous. You’d either have to pay hefty relocation packages (and even then the same people would be in the jobs) or you’d lose years of accumulated knowledge, making the whole operation indefinably more inefficient meaning costs would go through the roof. And, as a rule, UK-wide agencies tend to be run from England, putting Scotland at a severe jobs disadvantage, so even if this one is slightly unfair, it’s not exactly balancing the scales.