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AIBU?

To think it is unfair that Scots and Welsh students don't have to pay for university education whereas English students do, even if they attend a Scots or Welsh university?

131 replies

Dolcelatte · 26/08/2014 18:22

It just doesn't seem fair at all to me. Young English students are saddled with a mountain of debt at a young age whereas, as I understand the position, the Scots and Welsh don't have to pay. No doubt some wise MNer will correct me if I'm wrong.

I don't have anything against the Scots or Welsh students or begrudge them their good fortune; they are very lucky. And I know that life isn't fair, but even so....
(this is where I would sign off with a suitable emoticon but IT skills sadly lacking by this mother of 2 DC at English universities).

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LindyHemming · 26/08/2014 18:28

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

TeenagersDriveMeMad · 26/08/2014 18:37

Erm, the Welsh still pay just over £3500 in fees and are lucky enough to have a government who have prioritised funding the shortfall (another £5500). So they're still paying £3500 a year.

I do agree it's not fair that the English students don't have their fees subsidised. But then if the Westminster gov turned round and did what the Welsh gov is doing there would've been no point in raising the fees. The government have fucked themselves over anyway - there's no way that the average English student with the max fee loan (£9k) and a maintenance loan of £5k over 3 years (=£42k) is going to pay that off before retirement.

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DoristheCamel · 26/08/2014 18:37

Welsh do pay but not as much.

Welsh also get free prescriptions but we aldo have longer hospital waiting lists.

Having lived in England, Scotland and Wales I have to say its swings and roundabouts. One sector of society wins another loses.

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CoolCat2014 · 26/08/2014 18:38

Yes it's unfair, but that's how the governments have decided to allocate funds. Makes staying in Wales seem more attractive though!

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PhaedraIsMyName · 26/08/2014 18:43

It is monstrously unfair. No question about it.

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squoosh · 26/08/2014 18:44

In ten years time, whether Scotland is independent or not, the Scots will be charging fees too. But you're right, it does seem pretty unfair as it stands.

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ilovechristmas1 · 26/08/2014 18:51

YANBU two of my sons may well be at Uni in 2yrs time (twins)

im a single parent and am starting to worry about this,if they still want to go then i will do whatever is needed but i cant help thinking how we are going to make it happen

yes it does seem unfair after many MP's etc recieved free uni education etc

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Perihelion · 26/08/2014 18:52

Scottish students have to pay tuition fees if they study in England.

I think it should be a right to have free education up to degree level if you have the ablility.

You get what the majority vote for.

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BackforGood · 26/08/2014 18:58

It does seem SO unequal though - swings and roundabouts over paying for the odd prescription maybe, but that's not really comparative with a £5500 difference in fees (per yr)... you'd need an awful lot of prescriptions for that to become an issue.
My ds is going to University in Wales, and it seems wrong his flatmates and the people on his course have such a discrepancy in what they are paying to be there, when they are all from the UK, and presumably all taxed the same (well will be, or, their parents are now).

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Munchmallow · 26/08/2014 19:04

I was born in Scotland, DD was born in Scotland, but because we moved to England just before she started at a Scottish uni, we she had to pay four year's worth of fees. Now that's not fair.

And it's not Scots who get free university education, it's people who are resident in Scotland.

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EverythingIsAwesome · 26/08/2014 19:24

I am extremely grateful that I am able to study for my degree right now, with the only cost to me will be the student loan I have taken out for living expenses (live in Scotland).

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hackmum · 26/08/2014 19:32

Munchmallow: "And it's not Scots who get free university education, it's people who are resident in Scotland."

I've been trying to find out for ages - but can't - how long do you have to be resident in Scotland before you qualify for free tuition?

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Bambambini · 26/08/2014 19:34

Why don'tcha move to Scotland or Wales then? They obviously have their priorities on what they spend their budget on in the right place.

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Bambambini · 26/08/2014 19:36

And this is one of the reasons many Scots want independence - Westminster/the southeast and Scotland's priorities and political leanings are very different.

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GoblinLittleOwl · 26/08/2014 19:39

I believe students from the EU have reduced fees if they study in Scotland, or else their country subsidises them. The only students who have to pay are English students.

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MehsMum · 26/08/2014 19:41

Don't even start me on this one... Bloody unfair that my DC will leave lumbered with debt whereas Scots kids, living under the same tax regime, won't.

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Dolcelatte · 26/08/2014 19:43

Bambambini - I can't practise as a lawyer in Scotland because the jurisdiction is different and I am not qualified under Scots law. I could theoretically practise in Wales, but our jobs and families are here in England. We are - at least for the present - all part of the UK, so why should there be such differential and unequal treatment of British citizens on something which is so fundamental to so many families; it does seem to me to be unfair and discriminatory.

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SeagullsAndSand · 26/08/2014 19:43

Scotland may have different priorities once/if they're independent.Will be interesting to see where all these bucket loads of cash Salmond keeps going on about will materialise from.

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titchy · 26/08/2014 19:44

Three years hack mum.

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DoristheCamel · 26/08/2014 19:47

Munchmallow - yes thats shit. We are in a similar situation too.

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Bambambini · 26/08/2014 19:49

"We are - at least for the present - all part of the UK, so why should there be such differential and unequal treatment of British citizens on something which is so fundamental to so many families; it does seem to me to be unfair and discriminatory."

I can't remember many English folk marching in support of the Scots when they got the Poll Tax a year before the rest of the UK - seems they only bothered when it affected them personally.

I wish English students didn't have to pay fees as well - my kids will have to if they go to uni.

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nethunsreject · 26/08/2014 19:51

Yanbu, and I say that as a scot in Scotland. I am sick of some fellow Scots whinging about how hard things are for us and how badly we are done to by Westminster when we get more than our neighbours south of the border. Lot of crap.
Having said that, it is only a matter of time before tuition fees are charged here. Coffers are empty.

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DoristheCamel · 26/08/2014 19:52

Backforgood - yes it would be hell of alot of prescriptions - every single prescription issued in Wales is free.
I don't disagree in the unfairness but we lise in other areas in Wales. Our hospital waiting lists are utter shit compared to England - if I am a healthy student in Wales I cream in with the subsidised fees but if you are unwell and waiting to see a consultatant in Wales you dip out compared to your unwell friends in England who get seen and treated quicker.
There are probably other discrepancies as well. Someone the other day told me school kuds in Wales get less funding than in England - although I have no idea if this is actually correct or not.

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MoominKoalaAndMiniMoom · 26/08/2014 20:01

As a student in Wales, I benefit from the lowered tuition fees (not free, we get a grant from the Welsh government for half of it, still pay about £3k a year), and the fact that we still have a very generous student finance system including £5,000 a year in the Assembly Learning Grant, which doesn't have to be paid back, and £1,800 loan on top of that (I'm from a very low-income household, the lowest bracket, so I don't think it's as good if you're in a higher earning household).

As someone with medical issues in Wales, I benefit from free prescriptions, but lose out because of the ridiculous waiting lists. I waited 12 months to see a gastroenterologist. I'm very lucky to have been fast-tracked and will be seeing a physiotherapist within 6 weeks of referral, otherwise I have no idea how long I could've been waiting.

My primary and secondary schools were horrendously underfunded, with sports and play equipment non-existant (and school supplies very lacking too!), no activities, only one extra-curricular activity that wasn't sport in the whole area, and very little government funding for any more. It really is swings and roundabouts.

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BoneyBackJefferson · 26/08/2014 20:01

wasn't it the Scottish MPs that vetoed the free English prescriptions?

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