The president of the National Union of Students, Aaron Porter, has expressed his concern that English students have to pay tuition fees to study in Scotland.

In an interview with The Student, Porter stated that he feels “hugely uncomfortable that there are such inequities” between English students, who pay their own fees, and Scottish and EU students, who currently have their fees subsidised by the Scottish Government.
Porter called for a “greater deal of fairness” in Scotland ahead of the Scottish Government’s plans to reform the higher education funding model for Scotland.

The Scottish Education Secretary, Michael Russell, published a green paper on higher education funding last December which called for a ‘Scottish solution’ to funding concerns.

English students currently pay £1,820 a year to study in Scotland.·
Education analysts expect that fee rises soon to be introduced in England will be mirrored for English students in Scotland, so that Scottish universities can take advantage of ‘fee refugees’ fleeing the trebling of tuition prices south of the border.

Porter states that he would welcome a deal which would provide greater support “across the board” for Scottish, English and EU students in Scotland.· He also reaffirmed his pledge that tuition fees should not be introduced in Scotland but did offer a caveat that the current financial agreement could not continue, commenting that “there is a problem of sustainability” within the Scottish model.

Porter also spoke to The Student about recent criticism he has received from student groups over his handling of NUS protests.·

Two London-based institutions, Birbeck and the School of African and Asian Studies, have passed motions of no confidence in Porter and in an article for The Guardian student activist Mary Robertson, of the Student Broad Left, stated that Porter “was no longer fit to lead the student movement.”

Playing down their claims, Porter explained that they were “entitled to their opinion” but that the overriding majority of students in the UK supported the actions of the NUS Executive Committee.

Moreover, he described their actions as “daft” and claimed that they were “trying to hold the NUS to ransom.”·

Critics of Porter were angered by the NUS decision not to support planned protests in London later this month against the proposed scrapping of the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) in England.·

Porter explained the reasoning behind the decision was “quite simple”. Parliament will vote on the issue on 19th January, before the planned protests on the 26th.

Porter said a protest after the vote would be of “little value.”· Instead, the NUS is planning a ‘national day of action’ for today and will lobby Parliament tomorrow, prior to the vote.

The NUS president hopes that forthcoming EMA-related protests and a national rally planned for the 29th in Manchester, organised in conjunction with University College Union (UCU) and the TUC (Trade Union Congress), will not result in a repeat of the violent scenes that befell London in December.

However, Porter is adamant that overall the violence at the end of last year did damage the perception that society holds of students: “Of course instances of violence did not get public support but overall I think society was behind the protests and polls conducted regarding tuition fees convey that.”

Despite the disappointment of failing to prevent the Government increasing tuition fees, Porter is pragmatic and optimistic about the year ahead.·

The NUS will continue to “retain principle opposition” to increased tuition fees but will instead now turn their attention to how universities react to the legislation, he explained: “Seeking assurances from universities will be a priority to make sure students get the best possible deal.”··

Furthermore, he added that the NUS will continue to put pressure on the Government this year for “renewed state investment in universities” after cuts of up to 80 percent were announced last year.

Porter confirmed that he has also been invited to meet with Simon Hughes, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats and government education spokesperson, to discuss the best ways in which to implement the National Scholarship Scheme.· The scheme will offer state grants to meet the cost of tuition fees for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.