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Union of UEA Students welcomes graduate tax as a step in the right direction
Today, the Union of UEA Students has welcomed Business Secretary, Vince Cable’s backing for a graduate tax to replace student top-up fees, but sees it only as the first step towards a fairer higher education funding system.
The students’ union warned that any proposals for a graduate tax would have to be judged on their fairness by students, and that the public would refuse to be conned by rebranding or marketing exercises.
Natasha Barnes, Communications Officer for the Union of UEA Students, said: “Vince Cable is right to ask why, under the current unpopular and regressive top-up fee system, a care worker or teacher is expected to pay as much as a corporate lawyer or banker.
“We believe that students should not be bearing the brunt of cuts to the universities budget and the proposed graduate taxation system should not be a way to con students into paying more for their degrees. Ultimately, we’d like to see universities funded by general taxation rather than the cost falling to students alone.”