Theory and analysis

College cuts in Bristol lead to lost work, shambolic teaching and a bleak future

  City of Bristol College, rated “inadequate” by Ofsted earlier this year, has been revealed to have lost students’ work thereby costing them their qualifications. Formal complaints have been made about an animal management course first offered in 2011 which was originally supposed to last six-weeks, until the college realised that the course could not be covered in less than one academic year, which was later extended to a two year in-depth Read more…

By Marxist Student, ago

Uni fees to increase – the vultures are circling

The pace of privatisation in education is accelerating and those who would use it as a means to get rich quick are circling ever closer. The recent White Paper published by the government would allow universities to increase tuition fees above £9,000 in line with inflation from Autumn 2017. At the same time it would allow many more private institutions to adopt the title of “University”. There are many good reasons to Read more…

By Marxist Student, ago

Under orders from the government, my school is spying on me because I’m a socialist

Though there had been hints for a while, I first found out for certain that my college was gathering information on me because one of my teachers told me so: he kept me after class to ask what he should write in my ‘Prevent’ file. That was around February this year. After that I started trying to get a look at whatever information was being held. As it stands, FE colleges are Read more…

By Marxist Student, ago

Victory for King’s College London GTAs!

The Marxist Student-led Fair Pay for GTAs campaign has won a 20% pay increase for student teachers at King’s College London following an 18-month struggle with university bosses. Ever since the Tory-led Coalition government lifted the cap on student intake at universities in 2012, Higher Education institutions have leaned on the casual labour of Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs). These exploited student teachers – who are expected to work for a pittance – Read more…

By Marxist Student, ago

Why are university staff on strike this week? An open letter from UCU members to students

The letter below is being distributed to students at Queen Mary, University of London by local UCU members who are taking strike action. We republish it here in an effort to inform as many students as possible about the ins and outs of this strike and why students should support it.   Dear Queen Mary students The University College Union (UCU) has called a national strike for 25-26 May, Wednesday and Thursday Read more…

By Marxist Student, ago

Brazilian students occupy schools to fight the government

High school students in São Paulo have been occupying schools since 2015. There are now 18 technical centers occupied in São Paulo and more than 70 occupied schools in Rio de Janeiro. The main issue which led the students to occupy their schools was the proposed “reorganization” of the education system which would have harmed a lot of students and resulted in the shutdown of more than 90 schools. The reorganization was Read more…

By Marxist Student, ago

Marxist Student statement on NUS disaffiliation

  In the light of the disaffiliation of the University of Lincoln Student Union from the National Union of Students (NUS), and with votes on the question of affiliation coming up at a number of universities around the country this term, we publish below a statement from the Newcastle Marxist Society on the upcoming referendum at that university, and a longer article on Marxists and the NUS, originally published in 2013. Newcastle Read more…

By Marxist Student, ago

Young people failed by capitalism turn to parents for help

  With the crisis of capitalism hitting young people the hardest in terms of employment and wages, it is not surprising that new data from Legal & General shows that 25% of all mortgage transactions made this year will only be possible thanks to parental help. The average contribution made by parents towards their child’s house purchase is a massive £17,500, amounting to £5bn a year in total. This is the product Read more…

By Marxist Student, ago

Smears and loathing in the NUS and Labour

  The NUS president-elect, Malia Bouattia, has recently suffered an intense smear campaign accusing her of anti-Semitism. Bouattia is a left-wing activist who unseated the incumbent bureaucrat Megan Dunn in elections held last week, thereby incurring the fury of right-wingers in the student movement and beyond. The right-wing media had a field day with this story, using it to attack an NUS that has shifted dramatically to the left over the last Read more…

By Marxist Student, ago

Kent, Cut the Rent!

At a recent meeting of the Kent, Cut the Rent! campaign we revised our demands which are below. We strongly look forward to the coming year as we move towards direct action to deal with the issues facing this campus. If we stand together, we are strong! Our aims are presented below: The rent on campus at UKC is already above the national average, being one of the highest in the UK outside Read more…

By Marxist Student, ago

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