My grave concern about tripling university tuition fees is that it is a flawed business plan. A bank would not lend thousands of pounds on the pretext that it might be paid back ONLY IF the students secures a job with a salary of £21,000.

With the proposed changes mature students, for example, can take out a loan to pursue their own academic interests and have no intention of working afterwards. And what if the student comes from an EU country and returns home after the course is completed, what measures are there to ensure this public loan will be repaid?

Students don’t regard the Lord Browne proposal as a loan, it is perceived as a massive debt. On top of that, they will not have improved tuition as there are proposed cuts for university teaching staff too.

The government is asking too much too soon. Why couldn’t the rise have been introduced in smaller increments in fairness to the students? I know it is not a precise analogy, but if householders were told their utility bills and taxes were going to triple within a year or two, they would also feel outraged.

Student protest