Deputy Editor
Students’ Representative Council has condemned Glasgow University’s decision to increase tuition fees in an open letter to the Principal and Vice Chancellor Anton Muscatelli.
The letter to the Principal criticises the University’s lack of transparency over the decision to raise fees for rUK students and the speed at which it was approved, arguing that it bypassed the opportunity for student consultation.
On 12 October, University of Glasgow Court made the decision to increase the tuition fees for students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland from £9000 to £9250.
The SRC said they were “extremely disappointed” that they were made aware of the potential fee increase just two days before the University Court decided to raise fees.The SRC Executive said that the decision showed “a flagrant disregard of the student voice by the University on an issue which will severely impact both current and future students.”
The letter said: “This is not reflective of the atmosphere of mutual respect and meaningful consultation in which we usually operate and we wish to stress our discontent at the failure to engage with us earlier on the matter.” The letter warns that the University’s “cavalier dismissal” of the impact on students was a “very slippery slope.”
The letter condemns the marketisation of Universities through competitive fee increases and involvement in the Teaching Excellence Framework. It also highlights that Glasgow took this decision weeks after Edinburgh University announced the same increase, asserting that on such issues Glasgow should be “a world changer and not a follower”.
The Queen Margaret Union posted on Facebook: “The QMU would like to echo the concerns raise by the SRC in the below letter to our Principal, Professor Anton Muscatelli. The total disregard for the opinion of students demonstrated by the haste with which the decision to increase tuition fees was made, and the lack of prior consultation with students is deeply troubling…We are 100% against any move towards such an increase in fees and will do what we can to support the SRC in opposing it.”
The full letter can be found here.
