Tuesday September 11 2012 | Freshers Week
S I N C E 1887
T H E U K ' S O LD E S T S T U D EN T N EW S PA P ER
Welcome to Edinburgh
First students paying £9,000 fees arrive
Bed shortage leads to accomodation woes Sam Bradley
SCORES OF new University of Edinburgh students are being forced to stay in hotel rooms due to a shortage of beds in University accomodation. 48 students have been allocated rooms in a Travelodge or ‘mini-dorms’ at Pollock Halls by Accommodation Services. A university spokesperson explained to The Student, “30 students have been allocated rooms at Travelodges on St Mary’s St and in Cameron Toll; a further 18 students will be accommodated in mini-dormitories at Pollock Halls. “We anticipate that this will be a temporary measure, which should be resolved within 30 days. In the meantime, these students’ needs are being met by providing good local accommodation. “The students will be integrated
into our rooms very soon. We believe it represents the best available option for our students”. The university guarantees first year students a room if they reside outside Edinburgh and plan to study for the full academic year. Although the agreement states that the type of room that students “might prefer” cannot be guaranteed, some critics have claimed that by failing to provide university lodging Edinburgh has broken the accommodation guarantee. Concerns have also been raised that, although temporary housing has been provided, these students may well miss out on the plethora of activities and social meetings organised in and around the University’s halls of residence. The recurrence of the issue will also add weight to critics of the university’s controversial Masson House hotel,
which is situated inside Pollock Halls but is not open to students. Whilst the hotel has gained large profits for the university since it launched – as much as £216,000 in 2012 – its detractors, including University of Edinburgh rector Peter McColl, have taken issue with it.
“
We believe it represents the best available option for our students” University of Edinburgh spokesperson McColl, who plans to use his three-year term as rector to campaign for improved accommodation, told
PETER GUTHRIE
BETH THOMPSON
THURSTON SMALLEY
Thurston Smalley
The Student, “Student halls should be used for students first and as hotels if they can’t be filled.” The president of Edinburgh University Students’ Association, James McAsh, told The Student, “It’s difficult to point the finger exactly, but it’s clear that the university needs to start prioritising the welfare of its students before the commercial interests of its spin off ventures, like Masson House.” The accommodation shortage bears similarities to conditions during last year’s first term, when dozens of students were given accommodation in Musselburgh, miles away from the city centre campuses and on the outskirts of Edinburgh. As well as in 2011, the issue of accommodation space is not unfamiliar to the University, with similar shortages occurring in 2009 and 2008.
THE UNIVERSITY of Edinburgh this week welcomed its first class of undergraduate students paying £9,000 per year tuition fees. This year marks the first time that UK universities are permitted to charge the maximum £9,000 annual fees, allowed by the coalition government in Westminster. The fees, which apply only for rest of United Kingdom (RUK) students, are up almost 500 per cent on last year’s, which stood at £1,820. Students from Scotland and the European Union still do not pay any tuition fees. The announcement of the new cap on UK university tuition followed news that the UK government would be slashing public spending on universities by up to 80 per cent. Higher tuition is intended to shift university funding from the state to the student. Critics of the increase, including the National Union of Students, the Edinburgh University Students’ Association (EUSA) and Peter McColl, the university rector, claim that higher fees will discourage potential applicants and saddle new students with considerable debt. Proponents of the fee rise say that higher tuition is necessary to offset Westminster’s 80 per cent reduction in university funding and will allow the University of Edinburgh to offer the most competitive bursaries in the country. In a press release following his installation as rector, McColl said, “Education is a social good and access should be on ability to learn, not ability to pay. “No fees are acceptable. Fees of £9000 a year are nothing short of a disgrace.” Echoing McColl, EUSA President James McAsh branded the tuition hike as a “great tragedy” in remarks to The Student. He said, “We welcome the university’s bursary package but maintain that for university education to be truly inclusive and egalitarian, it must be paid for by progressive taxation.” Asked whether the value of a degree from the University of Edinburgh had effectively quintupled, he said, “The value of education cannot be measured monetarily.” Figures from UCAS showed nationwide university applications down 8.7 per cent from last year, with significant geographical variations. English university applications were down 9.9 per cent, Northern Irish applications down 4 per cent, Welsh applications down 1.9 per cent, and Scottish applications down 1.5 per cent. Continued on page seven»