Funding Our Future is the name given by the National Union of Students (NUS) to an ongoing series of events held in London and around the UK in 2008, 2009 and 2010. [1] The demonstrations, which were attended by students and lecturers from higher education institutes across the UK, have come about due to proposed/reforms cuts in educational budget by the coalition government of the United Kingdom.
![]() | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (November 2010) |
![]() | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (November 2010) |
Where a series of small local events which saw students raise awareness of cuts in education. Events were held in the following ten cities or towns:
These events were held in order to make higher education funding a frontline issue in the upcoming 2010 election. [4]
The London march started at Horse Guards Avenue commencing at 12.45 PM. From there the march went down Whitehall, passing Downing Street towards Parliament Square. The march continued down the embankment, passing the Conservative's headquarters, at Millbank Tower, before finishing at Millbank outside the Tate Britain.
University College London, which operates as UCL, is a major public research university located in London, United Kingdom. UCL is ranked amongst the world's best universities by various academic publications. UCL is a member institution of the federal University of London, and is the second-largest university in the United Kingdom by total enrolment, after the Open University, and the largest by postgraduate enrolment.
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university located in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895, by Fabian Society members Sidney Webb, Beatrice Webb, Graham Wallas, and George Bernard Shaw, LSE joined the University of London in 1900 and established its first degree courses under the auspices of the university in 1901. LSE began awarding its degrees in its own name in 2008, prior to which it awarded degrees of the University of London. The motto of the university is "Rerum cognoscere causas" which in Latin, means; "To know the cause of things".
The National Union of Students of the United Kingdom (NUS) is a confederation of students' unions in the United Kingdom. Around 600 students' unions are affiliated, accounting for more than 95% of all higher and further education unions in the UK. Although the National Union of Students is the central organisation for all affiliated unions in the UK, there are also the devolved national sub-bodies NUS Scotland in Scotland, NUS Wales in Wales and NUS-USI in Northern Ireland. NUS current President is Larissa Kennedy.
The University of Kent is a semi-collegiate public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom. The University was granted its Royal Charter on 4 January 1965 and the following year Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent, was formally installed as the first Chancellor.
Middlesex University London is a public research university in Hendon, northwest London, England. The name of the university is taken from its location within the historic county boundaries of Middlesex.
Millbank Tower is a 119-metre (390 ft) high skyscraper in the City of Westminster at Millbank, by the River Thames in London. The tower was constructed in 1963, and has been home to many high-profile political organisations, including the Labour and Conservative parties, and the United Nations.
The University of Derby is a public university in the city of Derby, England. It traces its history back to the establishment of the Derby Diocesan Institution for the Training of Schoolmistresses in 1851. It gained university status in 1992.
The University of Gloucestershire is a public university based in Gloucestershire, England. It is located over three campuses, two in Cheltenham and one in Gloucester, namely Francis Close Hall, The Park, Oxstalls and The Centre for Art and Photography being near to Francis Close Hall.
Birkbeck, University of London, is a public research university located in Bloomsbury, London, England, and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Established in 1823 as the London Mechanics' Institute by its founder, Sir George Birkbeck, and its supporters, Jeremy Bentham, J. C. Hobhouse and Henry Brougham, Birkbeck is one of the few universities to specialise in evening higher education in the United Kingdom.
Sheffield Students' Union, officially known as the University of Sheffield Students' Union, is the representative body of students at the University of Sheffield. It is run by a team of thirteen elected officers.
Professor Michael J. G. Farthing is a British physician, medical researcher and academic administrator. He was the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sussex (2007–2016), having succeeded Professor Alasdair Smith in September 2007. Prior to his appointment as Vice-Chancellor at Sussex, his academic career was in Medicine, specialising in Gastroenterology. In 2019, Farthing was elected Master of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries.
Bangor University is a public university in Bangor, Wales. It received its Royal Charter in 1885 and was one of the founding institutions of the federal University of Wales. Officially known as University College of North Wales (UCNW), and later University of Wales, Bangor, in 2007 it became Bangor University, independent from the University of Wales.
The Browne Review or Independent Review of Higher Education Funding and Student Finance was a review to consider the future direction of higher education funding in England.
Aaron Ross Porter is a former President of the National Union of Students in the United Kingdom; he was elected with a 65% majority and took office in June 2010 for one year.
A graduate tax is a proposed method of financing higher education. It has been proposed in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.
The anti-austerity movement refers to the mobilisation of street protests and grassroots campaigns that has happened across various countries, especially in Europe, since the onset of the worldwide Great Recession.
The 2010 United Kingdom student protests were a series of demonstrations in November and December 2010 that took place in several areas of the country, with the focal point of protests being in central London. Largely student-led, the protests were held in opposition to planned spending cuts to further education and an increase of the cap on tuition fees by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government following their review into higher education funding in England. Student groups said that the intended cuts to education were excessive, would damage higher education, give students higher debts, and broke campaign promises made by politicians.
The anti-austerity movement in the United Kingdom saw major demonstrations throughout 2010s in response to Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government's austerity measures which saw significant reductions in local council budgets, increasing of university tuition fees and reduction of public spending on welfare, education, health and policing, among others. Anti-austerity protests became a prominent part of popular demonstrations across the 2010s, particularly the first half of the decade.
The Student Left Network is a membership-based organisation of activist students and education workers campaigning against tuition fees, education cuts and privatisation in the United Kingdom.
Tuition fees in the United Kingdom were reintroduced for full-time resident students in 1998, as a means of funding tuition to undergraduate and postgraduate certificate students at universities. Since their introduction, the fees have been reformed multiple times by several bills, with the cap on fees notably rising to £9,000 a year for the 2012–13 academic year.