Latest on tuition fees

[Bearcat]

This morning it has been said that students from poorer backgrounds (free school meals) will get one or two years of their tuition fees paid for them, thus saving them up to £18000 not having to be paid back after graduation.
If these students are the brightest and end up as the doctors, lawyers, investment bankers of tomorrow they will have to pay back far less than the low paid teacher, social worker or any other low paid professional.
Surely all these young people should be starting off with the same debts at the start of their working life.
No one has to pay these fees up front.
I have read in the last few weeks that even if you have rich parents you will still be forced to take the loans to pay for your education and will not be able to have your parents pay them back in one fell swoop as this will advantage you above all your other graduating contemporaries.
Surely the latest coalitions ideas will advantage poorer students (now) who could end up as the most succesful graduates.

That is harsh Riven. My DD (different College) is just "pay as you go" with meals & tends to go for Chefs Special etc (

Riven that is an absolute joke. At Oxford it is pay-as-you-go, lunch is something like 1.50 and dinner is just over 2.00. I think I spent about 200.00 per term for hall food, all in. It's the same now.

Bearcat can you post some links?

This is terrible, is this all the help there will be?

I cannot believe people are begruding anyone who qualifies this help, it's very mean of them.

Do you know that the only people who qualify for free school meals are the unemployed. The working poor on the same income don't qualify. This will affect a tiny percentage of students and cost the government f all. So .

We need the help too, if DD is going to go onto HE.

Also how many families that qualify for free school meals are still in the system when there kids reach adulthood. It's a token and a joke.

Free school meals is a crap basis.

not working at all- get it.

Working but maybe your business is making a loss or just started up or you only get a very low income indeed- no FSM. A family where one aprent works onminimum wage therefore would not qualify.

To the OP, it's a bit niave to think that all students will have the same level of debt when they graduate too. Of course then won't when some will have parents helping with their living expenses.

Think I'm talking to myself here but just venting.

An example of FSM:

for the first few months after starting the business DH took only £50 a week from it, and put the rest into stock / equipment. he started it in response to redundancy so was better for all that he did it.

We did not however then qualify for FSM. I am not complaining- we were amnd are fine- but it shows how warped FSM payments are as a basis for making these decisions.

The've done the same with replacing EMA too. Giving only about a quarter of the amount to schools to be available for school trips for children who qualify for free school meals.

I'm a working single parent on a very low income and I don't get them, so we lose EMA next year and lose any bursaries that are currently available to be replace with zilch.

Yes, and teh idea that schools don;t refuse anyone is bunkum- at the panto last week at our school, those kids whose aprents couldn not afford to pay (only a few, one whose aprent died recently so probably just other one forgot, some whose aprents are recently redundant) were visibly sent home by teh Head at lunchtime after she sent a note out to everyone saying that said kids were not welcome in school that PM.

Niiiiice. A good, Christian sponsored (as opposed to Church) school.

Makes their arguement in favour of the fees into complete rubbish!

Absolutely do fund the maintanence for those students from poorer backgrounds but if the fees are just argued to be a delayed tax only for those benefiting from their degree then they should apply to all students.