Students are rallying on campuses to demand that politicians scrap tuition fees and take the student voice seriously.

The week-long protests, that begin today on university campuses around the country, will build up to a national demonstration ahead of the general election.

Those taking part in the “week of action”, organised by the Student Assembly Against Austerity and the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts, include students at Durham University, Goldsmiths University and London Metropolitan University.

Students are also gathering at the University of East Anglia (UEA), where there will be a public rally with speakers from the National Union of Students (NUS). Meanwhile at Falmouth University students are organising banner demonstrations.



Across these campuses students are also expected to open stalls, organise sit-ins and conduct mass petitioning to get their message across.

Fiona Edwards, one of the organisers of the Student Assembly Against Austerity, and of the week of action, says: “We’re asking for a free education and are getting the word out. We’re having lots of stalls, banner drops and public meetings.



“This is the beginning of a whole series of action between now and the general election to raise the demands of the student movement and put politicians under pressure to support us.”

Edwards says that young people are more engaged than they have been in the past. “We are seeing an increase in student activism on campus,” she says. “Young people are prepared to fight the government and there’s a lot to fight for.”

The rallies build up to a national demonstration which will take place on 19 November, where students will march through central London to put pressure on politicians. Up to 10,000 people are expected to attend, which would make it the biggest student demonstration in four years.

Kirsty Haigh, an organiser for the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts and vice president of NUS Scotland, says: “This year will see a major fightback [from students] against privatisation and attacks on living standards, the biggest since 2010-11.



“With a general election in May, we will be putting free education onto the political agenda, not by softening our position but by making our ideas impossible to ignore.”

Aaron Kiely, one of the organisers of the Student Assembly Against Austerity, also makes it clear that students are going to be active on campuses over the coming months.



He says: “This Tory-led government has failed students. We are facing soaring student debt, rising rents and savage cuts to education and all the public services students rely upon.



“We are going to be active both on our campuses and outside MPs’ offices in order to build a movement that cannot be ignored again. Our message to all politicians and political parties is clear: we want an end to austerity, student debt and tuition fees.”

The National Union of Students (NUS) has also called on politicians to scrap tuition fees. It has recently released its manifesto, which outlines what the 600-strong body of student unions will be demanding from politicians in 2015.

The manifesto, named the “new deal for the next generation”, lists 30 demands, under the categories of education, work and community. Demands include the introduction of an apprentice minimum wage and the lowering of the voting age to 16.

Toni Pearce, president of the NUS, recently said that students are “more engaged than ever before” and that “this is the year when they’re going to make a difference”. She warned that “politicians would be stupid to ignore them”.

Pearce says: “What’s exciting about this is that it’s another example of students getting together and mobilising politically for something that they care about. I really hope that the public and the parents of young people see that what we’re asking for isn’t special treatment, it’s about wanting a fairer society.



“It’s not just about this election, it’s about setting the precedent for the future that you can’t shut young people out of politics.”



• To find out what’s going on on your campus – or to set something up – join the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts Facebook group, or the Student Assembly Against Austerity’s Facebook group.

