Response to Browne Review

OUSU President David Barclay said, "This is a dark day for meritocracy in the United Kingdom. An open market will inevitably mean that students choose which University to attend based on their ability to pay rather than their academic ability. The Review itself acknowledges this, arguing for public spending on 'priority' courses in order to counter the risk that students will pick based on price rather than interest and aptitude. To then advocate a blank cheque for Universities like Oxford to charge whatever they like is both self-contradictory and a slap in the face to students from disadvantaged backgrounds. "If these proposals are accepted we will be left with the grotesque and horrifying spectacle of an entire generation hunting for bargains on their education. David Cameron has said we can 'like it or lump it' - Oxford students will do neither, but will fight for a fairer alternative for our University and our country."