The news broke today that yet another government cupboard is bare: the piggy bank that funds student grants has been well and truly raided by, well, students. An article in today’s Guardian details that the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills has grossly ‘miscalculated’ increases in the bill for higher education and is about £100m short. Now, I’m no economist, but if you’re going to go around bleating about opportunities for all and ramming a university education down young people’s throats, it’s obvious you’re going to need to put your money where your mouth is. This is yet another example of our government’s ‘buy now, pay later’ attitude to public spending; unfortunately, this time it could seriously affect students. If the money cannot be found from making cuts in another area, the Department may have to freeze the number of students attending university, cut the current grant amount, or even reduce the number of people eligible for funding – a drastic step backwards in terms of access to higher education. But we all know that it won’t be students from the poorest socio-economic backgrounds who suffer: instead it will be Joe, the son of a plumber, whose parents earn enough money on paper to fund his studies but in reality don’t have much cash spare. The higher education funding system needs an overhaul but I fear this incident will only add impetus to the government’s support for lifting the cap on tuition fees.

Written by Kathryn Woodroof, Jarrat Hall Ents Officer and former BULS Freshers’ Officer