Tuition fees, screw you.

  I hate the government. Just FYI.

  They appear to be removing the cap on university fees. UK university fees were capped at £3,290 but the plan means that fees could go up to and above £7,000, possibly up to something like £12,000.
Needless to say, my friends have been annoyed and worried. If all went well, some, if not most, of us were planning to go to university in September '12, the year they plan on releasing the cap.
Even the university groups and boards are split on this. The UCU lecturers' union said that it was "the final nail in the coffin for affordable education". Others are saying that it will hit middle-earning families the hardest as the rich could afford it and the poorer get more help with it (a proposed £3,250 more). But The Russell Group of leading universities said that it would provide much needed funding. Mmm... Kay...
I knew it would happen, it was in the news for a while when they were listing the government funding that would change after the election.

  These changes wouldn't be so bad if I hadn't found out today, whilst researching for the figures above, that MPs pledged to phase out tuition fees. 500 Lib Dems and 17 Tories signed the Vote for Students pledge earlier in 2010. The Lib Dems said that they would phase out tuition fees. The only sign of this I see is the reports of a possible backbench rebellion and Vince Cable's press office saying that it was still official policy to scrap them. It's not going to happen.

  Anyway, other than that rage which appears to have consumed my day, it's been an alright one, need to do some work then collapse.

(BBC: Cable Accepts Unlimited Tuition Fees Plans 12/10/2010 08:00)

(Telegraph: 1,500 Candidates Vow To Oppose Tuition Fee Rises  05/05/2010 15:58)