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.

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PUTTING A PRICE ON DISABILITY

Posted on August 19, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged Access to Learning Fund, ADHD, diagnosis, disability, Disabled Students Allowance, Dysgraphia, Dyspraxia, eduation, finance, Hardship Fund, higher education, learning, learning difficulties, marketisation, national student survey, nss, profit, specific learning difficulty, spld, student, student satisfaction, teaching excellence framework, tef, UEA, university, University of East Anglia.

Last semester at University I was diagnosed as suffering from learning disabilities (Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLDs)). Whilst the diagnoses of having ADHD, Dyspraxia and Dysgraphia didn’t come to much of a shock to me, the fact that I then had to pay £100 in order to be diagnosed did.Continue Reading

“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.

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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.

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.

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OXFORD’S PUBLICITY STUNT WON’T CLOSE THE UNIVERSITY CLASS GAP

Posted on March 31, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged bill clinton, Boris Johnson, buzzwords, capitalism, class, consumerism, degree, discrimination, diversity, education, elitism, employability, employment, family, graduate, graduate employment, graduate jobs, graduate unemployment, higher education, history of art, inclusivity, language, law, learning, lower income backgrounds, margaret thatcher, marketisation, middle class, module guides, nss, NUS, Phillip Hammond, politics, pressure, publicity stunt, student as consumer, student debt, student experience, student life, student loans, student satisfaction, students, students' unions, SU officers, Sutton Trust, teaching, tef, theresa may, tony blair, transferable skills, tuition fees, UCU, university, university management, University of Oxford, white, working class, working class students.

This month Oxford University, in conjunction with the Sutton Trust, launched a summer school aimed at attracting more “white, working class boys” to the university. While this has received praise from some sectors of society, it does not address the real reasons why working class people (not just boys or men) are not attending universities like Oxford.

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MANY FIGHTS, ONE MOVEMENT – NUS UNITED FOR EDUCATION DEMO

Posted on November 22, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged boycott, Brexit, demonstration, deportation, higher education, Higher Education Bill, london, no borders, nss, NUS, rent strikes, student accommodation, student activism, student loans, tef, theresa may, UCL, UCU.

by Cherry Somersby

Content warning: mentions racism, racist violence

From Whitehall to Millbank, placards reading ‘No Fees, No Cuts, No Debt’ filled the streets as NUS President Malia Bouattia addressed 15,000 students ready to fight fees and stop the Higher Education Bill on Saturday. This comes at a time when students are turning to loan sharks to cover their costs, our loans are being attacked for being ‘illegal’ and ‘unenforceable’, and the threat of rent strikes is truly on the agenda.

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NOT SATISFIED, BUT IRATE – WHY STUDENTS MUST BOYCOTT THE NSS

Posted on August 13, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged Concrete, conservative, conservatives, education, government, HE, HE White Paper, higher education, national student survey, nss, NUS, NUS conference, nusnc16, sombrero, sombrero gate, student, student movement, student union, students, Teaching Excellent Framework, tef, Tories, Tory, UEA, UEA SU, universities, university, University of East Anglia, UUEAS.

by Cherry Somersby

Just last week, a key date in the university calendar fell for another year – the release of the results of the National Student Survey (NSS). The NSS, completed by thousands of final year undergraduate students each year, is a data collection tool that is used to promote competition and rank student satisfaction in universities across the country.Continue Reading

EDUCATION IS NOT A BRAND OF TOOTHPASTE

Posted on February 18, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged assessment, education, feedback, lecturers, national student survey, nss, student, students as consumers, toothpaste, university.

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by Philippa Costello

Any third year undergraduate with a pulse will be aware of the impending juggernaut that is the National Student Survey (NSS). If they are not aware, they almost certainly will be soon. The months of phone calls, posters, and haranguing at every possible opportunity will see to that.

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