West Midlands: Your comments...

Nick Watson The Politics Show West Midlands

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Your telephone calls...

I am a student at Warwick University and I think that the new tops up fees are ridiculous. All my friends are very worried how we are going to pay our debts when we graduate.
Sarah, Warwick

I would have liked to go to college when I was young but I was unable to do it then so why should I pay taxes for somebody else to become qualified and compete against me at the job market in a near future.
Abdul, Birmingham

Top-up fees are only a part of the problem for students. Most students move away from home to do their courses somewhere else but at the same time they admit any course could do to get them a job so why don't they stay at home, use internet and go to a local college? It would save them a fortune.
John, Coventry

I feel sorry for students and I do think that top up fees can make their lives really difficult when they graduate with lots of debts but why should I pay taxes to support these young people who are not related to me in any way. I believe it should be parents who support their children if they want them to get higher education.
Jo, Cheltenham

It is right students should pay for their education. In my opinion government has other priorities. Tax payers' money should be spent on NHS rather than universities. When the students qualify they will be on good salaries and will be able to pay off their debts.
Terry, Stoke-on-Trent

I am absolutely against the top up fees. I believe that society as a whole benefits from young people educated to the highest level.
Caroline, Smethwick

I am a father of nine. Two of my children are graduates and another two are at the universities now: one in Manchester and one in Wolverhampton. Coming from low income family the younger ones will definitely struggle to repay their fees. I think that the whole point that all politicians miss is that graduates in their working lives are paying some £4000 more in taxes than non-graduates. Hence I believe that education should be free because graduates will repay it in taxes many times over.
Bill, West Midlands

My question is why Scottish universities can abolish tuition fees and yet in England the fees are being increased all the time?
Dee, Cheltenham

After coming out of the army I spent 11 years in further and higher education to educate myself up to a Master level degree. Why should I now as a pensioner on limited resources contribute my taxes to these young people who are much more fortunate than I was anyway?
Clarence, North Worcestershire

I am against top up fees. Why don't get people who went to university for free, such as our members of Parliament, pay the amount they are demanding from students now?
Ann, Wolverhampton

Your e-mails...

I am a first year maths and physics student at Warwick Uni but was lucky enough to avoid top-up fees because I took a gap year and applied for deferred entry in 2005. I am passionately against top-up fees and believe that it would be far better to fund universities from general taxation as time and time again I have been told that graduates generally earn more than non-graduates (and so pay more income tax). I will not, however, be so lucky as to avoid the (in my opinion) excessive fees if I chose to do a postgrad around 2012 or so. This, I feel will greatly reduce the chances of me being able to follow my chosen career path of becoming a research physicist. I do not in any way support the plans to lift the cap at the end of this parliament as I feel that it will discourage many future students from wanting to come to university. I actually went on the protest today because of this. Education is a right, not a priviledge!
Kerri Parish, Warwick Uni

I don't agree with much the Labour government do but they are right with these fee hikes. I went to uni to get a proper degree. I found people doing degrees that should be done in college, with no idea what they wanted to do. The masses of people doing 'the history of handbags' type degrees are devaluing the proper degrees. I fully support employers who treat these degrees as rubbish. They go to uni to get drunk & avoid taking responsibility for themselves. The problems today come from creating a load of 'Jumped up polys' and calling their degrees equal to proper universities. If you really care about what you want to get out of uni, you will be happy to pay for your education there. WELL DONE BLAIR AND CONTINUE 'TAXING OUT THE TIMEWASTERS'.
Chris, UK

I am sick of hearing that top-up fees hit poorest students hard. It's nonsense. I am a mature student (I'm 30) and my husband earns 12,000 a year. We get tax credits, and although I'm actually on the old funding system because I started in 2005, the new system would actually be slightly cheaper for me. I would have smaller loans by about £1000. Most of the younger students on my course spend all their money on alcohol. If they were more sensible with their spending, they wouldn't end up in so much debt. They should try getting a job. I didn't really need the loan for living expenses, I chose to have it and invested it in home improvements, which means I will get a better price for my house when we move.
Nic Ralphs, uk

These tution fees are hitting the working classes, especailly when more than one child involved. My twin boys both studying engineering at London Universities each face debts of £8,000 per year (£3,000 tution fees plus £5,000 student loan) and since these are four year courses both will come out with debts exceeding £32,000.
Caroline Hopkins,

Re University fees. When I graduated from University my first job was a minimum wage job sharing a desk area with three other graduates. Many employers can now choose to take on graduates rather than school leavers. I come from a council estate in Stoke on Trent and would argue that far from my local residents paying taxes for my education I am actually paying taxes towards their benefits in a high unemployment/high sickness benefit area.
Alan Busby, England (Stoke on Trent)

The top-up fees are yet another way for the current Government to increase tax. The government is abusing its power. Some people must go to university to follow their chosen career path (e.g Medicine). Therefore, most people will have no choice but to pay what the Government desires. Mark Simmmons (Computer Science student at Warwick University)
Mark Simmons, England

I think there is far to much emphasis on encouraging young people to go to university with non-vocational courses, building up large debts, - because it seems to be "what you are expected to do" when the country is crying out for plumbers, electricans etc and a lot more should be done to encourage the less academic students NOT to go to university but to take vocational courses. This should also start at school.
Richard Hocknell, UK

I was thinking of going to university as a mature student. These fee's have put me off completely from even applying. What's the point of putting myself in thousands of pounds of debt, that I would still be paying back when I hit retirement age. These fees are not just going to deter young people from going to university, its going to deter the prospective mature student too.
Rhiannon Bromley, UK

Having previously been President of an NUS affiliated Students' Union and attended a number of their conferences and courses, I believe them to be a very insular and poorly ran organisation.

They are far removed from the realities of life in both the wider world and for students. They squander millions of pounds of money designed to help students on running politically correct campaigns and ineffective lobbying of government.

The NUS is full of self-interested students who are seeking to improve their own political standing and to push their policies on students. They do little to nothing to help real students and their problems. They certainly don't represent the national student voice.
Anon

I simply cannot afford to go to university now as coming from a household earning £15k per annum it is just too expensive. However, a university degree would benefit me greatly and therefore I have decided to undertake an Open Uni degree enabling me to work and study at the same time. Also Open Uni charges around £1000 a year and as there is an option of installments, I can realistically afford this unlike the system at the moment. At the moment you have to take out a loan for the first year for £3,000 and that's even before you get through the doors!
Diana Currier, England

On hospitals...

The problems in the local health authority stem from a questionable decision to build a PFI hospital at Coventry. The cost of this PFI is very large and is a cash drain on finite local resources. The senior health authority personnel who are responsible for the decisions to develop the Walsgrave site with a very expensive PFI should be held to account. I am a consultant at Warwick Hospital. I would prefer not to be identified - like many in that hospital I fear for my job.
Consultant, UK

I'm watching your issue on down grading of services of Warwick hospital, your missing the point, for example in manchester and the north west mother and baby units are being crossed across the board, this will leave vast areas without cover and considerable distance apart with lower number of beds..... THE BBC REALLY SHOULD LOOK ABOUT THIS ACROSS THE COUNTRY
Joseph Lewis, Britain

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