Student fees need 'radical reform'

Student fees across the UK could be abolished and replaced by a levy on graduate employers, according to new research by the London Economics consultancy for the UCU university and college union.

The union launched its Reclaim Higher Education campaign with a call for radical reform based on a fair funding model and an end to exploitative working practices.

The union action comes as dozens of universities across the UK are threatening redundancies, risking thousands of jobs and the closure of entire departments.

A report on university finances by the Office for Students, published last month, warned that two in five universities expect to be in deficit this academic year.

At London South Bank University, almost 300 posts have been put at risk, including almost one in five (226 out of 1,082) academic staff. More than one in three professors and three in five associate professors are also set to lose their jobs as soon as next month, the union reported. The university claims it needs to make the cuts because of a predicted £24 million deficit due to a fall in international students, static domestic student recruitment and rising pension costs.

The research proposes a 1% levy on employer national insurance or a three percentage point rise in corporation tax to replace student fees, removing the £11 billion per cohort in fees currently paid by UK domiciled students.