£36,000 for a degree

Edinburgh University is the third university in Scotland to announce how much it will charge students from outside Scotland (Scottish students will continue to not pay fees) and has made itself the most expensive place in the UK to get a degree. Edinburgh will charge £9,000 a year, despite all its degrees being four years.

This means that even without a maintenance loan, students from England and Wales will incur £36,000 debt. The reality of higher education after the fees increase is becoming clear. Many students from working and middle class backgrounds will feel completely shut out by these costs.

The campaign against fees isn’t lost. With the prospect of all public sector workers taking coordinated strike action in the next few months and the burning anger of young people after the attacks of last year, the momentum to reignite the movement against cuts and fees could quickly develop.

The Jarrow march calls for the immediate reinstatement of EMA and the scrapping of tuition fees. When the march arrives in London on 5 November, the end demonstration in Trafalgar Square will be a great opportunity for students to join young workers and unemployed people in telling this government that the fight isn’t over!