WE CAN’T JUST WAIT FOR FREE EDUCATION – NCAFC WINTER CONFERENCE

Posted on December 23, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged #FreeEdNOW, bigotry, boycott, conference, Cut the Rent, democratic education, demonstration, direct action, education workers, fascism, Free Education, free speech, GE17, HE policy, higher education, history, jeremy corbyn, KEF, Labour, Labour manifesto, left wing, living grants, local campaigns, marketisation, NCAFC, no platforming, nss, NSS Boycott, NUS, Picturehouse, Picturehouse strike, progressive taxation, protest, REF, Research and HE Bill, solidarity, strike action, student activism, student media, student movement, students, students' unions, tef, terfs, trans liberation, tuition fees, UCL, universities.

by Lewis Jarrad

On the 9th-10th December, the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts (NCAFC) put on its 2017 Winter Conference in Liverpool. Taking place less than a month after their national demonstration, which advocated for free education and universal living grants funded by taxing the rich, the conference was a chance for student activists across the UK to strategise and discuss where we can go next in the fight for a free and democratic education system. Campuses represented included Liverpool, Manchester, UCL, UAL, KCL, Warwick, Sheffield, Abertay, Oxford and Cambridge. As a first year UCL student who was involved in the national demo, I went along to learn more about NCAFC and how I could get more involved in the campaign.

WHO DESERVES TEF GOLD? AND DOES IT MATTER?

Posted on June 28, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged access, boycotts, elitism, equality, fairness, government, graduate employment, HE Act, HE bill, higher education, league tables, marketisation, national student survey, NSS Boycott, NUA, privatisation, profit, progress, reductionism, russell group, Sauder and Espeland, Sauder and Espeland boycott, student satisfaction, teaching, teaching standards, tef, TEF metrics, Tories, tuition fees, UEA.

by Laura Potts

Last week, the first set of Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) rankings were released for 2017. The TEF is fairly complicated and students are rarely informed of how it works, or the possible implications it holds for the future of education. In short, it is a framework of metrics or measures introduced by the Tory government, ostensibly to assess teaching in higher education institutions in England. These metrics categorise two areas: student satisfaction and graduate earnings / employability. A lot of the data comes from the National Student Survey that final year students are often pressured to take part in. This years’ rankings gave some unexpected results for some of the UK’s most prestigious institutes, with many not doing as well as expected – only 8 of the 21 elite Russell Group universities were awarded ‘Gold’. This suggests that we should be cautious about taking the TEF results as accurate representations of institutions.

ENOUGH PESSIMISM ABOUT HE – A RESPONSE TO JIM DICKINSON

Posted on April 28, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged academics, ceo, consumerism, customer service, direct action, fee rises, fossil free, government, higher education, House of Lords, ideology, Jim Dickinson, marketisation, national student survey, NSS Boycott, pessimism, politics, power, respect, student activism, student life, student mental health, student movement, student satisfaction, students, students' unions, teaching, tef, The Guardian, Tories, tuition fees, UEA, UEA SU, universities, university management, Vice Chancellors, writing.

by Lewis Martin

In a recent article for the Guardian, UEA SU CEO Jim Dickinson wrote about universities’ failure to produce anything satisfactory for its students, as well as the lack of transparency around how tuition fees are spent. Helpful though it is to point out the issues faced by the student movement, Dickinson fails to offer any type of remedy for them at any point, suggesting that cynical resignation is the only possible response.

“A VERY DIFFERENT TYPE OF POLITICS” – RESPONSE TO NUS CONFERENCE DAY 1

Posted on April 26, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged #NUSNC17, access, anti racism, anti-sexism, attainment gap, Brighton, campaigning, deportation, direct action, far right, Free Education, HE bill, international students, Liber8 Education, liberated curriculum, liberation, malia bouattia, marketisation, migrant rights, nss, NSS Boycott, NUS, NUS conference, nus elections, NUS Trans Officer, oppression, politics, racism, Sally Hunt, sexism, Sorana Vieru, student activism, student debt, student mental health, student politics, students, suicide, trade unions, trans students, tuition fees, UCU, women's rights.

by Cherry Somersby

Content warning: Article mentions suicide.

The political transition we have seen in NUS over the last 12 months would have been unthinkable this time last year. The student movement has risen to the growing need for radical action this year, building groundbreaking, vital campaigns, presenting a powerful response to the many crises modern students face.

SOMETHING IS BETTER THAN NOTHING – WHY THE NUS DISAFFILIATION ARGUMENT FAILS TO CONVINCE

Posted on April 13, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged activism, activists, alternative, Brexit, controversy, direct action, disaffiliation, EU, EU referendum, HE bill, Leave Campaign, legal support, malia bouattia, nss, NSS Boycott, NUS, nus elections, organisation, protests, referendum, rent strike, representation, Richard Brooks, rights, solidarity, student activism, student politics, student services, students, students' unions, tef, Tom Harwood, tuition fees, UCL.

by Alex Powell

Recent years, have seen a spate of referenda within students’ unions on whether they should continue their affiliation to NUS. One of the union’s most prominent critics, Tom Harwood, is running for NUS president this year. With all this going on, I feel like it’s a good time to throw my hat into the ring.

THE NSS: A MISSED OPPORTUNITY FOR SOLIDARITY

Posted on January 31, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged academia, casualisation, higher education, marketisation, national student survey, NSS Boycott, NUS, solidarity, students, tef, tuition fees, UCU, United for Education, university staff.

By Alex Powell

So, it’s that time of year again. The time of year where university finalists are asked to submit to the NSS (National Student Survey) and evaluate their university experience. This seems harmless enough. Indeed, the ability to criticise your institution in a way that might improve the experience of others can be portrayed as being positively progressive. However, this year, the data has a far more sinister usage. Because this year, NSS data is to be used in order to make decisions on whether or not to allow certain institutions to raise their fees. This change is coming about through the implementation of the TEF (Teaching Excellence Framework), and Tory reforms to higher education more generally.

NSS Boycott

WE CAN’T JUST WAIT FOR FREE EDUCATION – NCAFC WINTER CONFERENCE

WHO DESERVES TEF GOLD? AND DOES IT MATTER?

ENOUGH PESSIMISM ABOUT HE – A RESPONSE TO JIM DICKINSON

“A VERY DIFFERENT TYPE OF POLITICS” – RESPONSE TO NUS CONFERENCE DAY 1

SOMETHING IS BETTER THAN NOTHING – WHY THE NUS DISAFFILIATION ARGUMENT FAILS TO CONVINCE

THE NSS: A MISSED OPPORTUNITY FOR SOLIDARITY

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