Looking back in Anger: the August riots

Melissa Jane Knight reflects on the experience and causes of the riots that shook London and many other cities of England in August 2011, and makes a powerful appeal for action at ground level.

Blocked and in debt: the cry of youth

Youth worker Melissa Jane Knight gives an impassioned account of the dire prospects facing her generation. And she is one of “lucky ones” who stuck with education. The key to more equitable solutions lies in better targeted government policy.

Scrap the EMA, kick away another ladder

Josie Delves sees the scrapping of the Education Maintenance Allowance as symptomatic of a government that has shown a distinct reluctance to invest in youth – and her generation

Can Britain afford higher tuition fees?

David Kingman asks if higher tuition fees that the government plans to charge will actually cost it more money because of a financial miscalculation   Since the government’s plan to charge £9,000 a year for tuition fees was announced, most of the debate surrounding them has centred on whether the plan is socially, rather than… Read more »

Universities: 2012 looms

Antony Mason foresees chaos in the UK university system With the current summer round of AS and A level exams in full swing, the university entry year beginning September/October 2012 now appears clearly on the horizon. And there is every reason to fear that the university system as we know it is on the verge… Read more »