In the 1900s, a small minority of school-leavers went on to study at university. Tuition fees were unheard of ~ in fact, students could even apply for maintenance grants from 1962 onwards. So a degree plus living expenses could all be obtained courtesy of the tax-payer. A reality check has since taken place.

The number of school-leavers wishing to enter university has increased to 40%, creating a funding crisis. In 1998 it was decided that the fairest system would be to introduce tuition fees, but as passing on the real cost of providing courses might have been too big a jump, fees were initially capped at £1,000 per year. Student loans were made available by the government, on which interest was charged and reasonable repayment terms were set.

Since then, the four constituent countries of the UK have instigated their own tuition fee rules. Maintenance grants came to an end in 2015. Graduate numbers are still high, and although the majority take out the loans on offer to pay annual tuition fees of up to £9,250 (as of 2019), it is clearly advantageous to have parents who can pay up-front, rather than to be saddled with this debt for many years to come.

(Image: Goldsmiths Students’ Union at Flickr.com / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

The ‘green movement’ is so prevalent today in the UK that it is easy to feel the weight of responsbility for the whole world environment. An appreciation of nature has always been part of the British psyche, but it suffered tremendously with the coming of the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century. Two World Wars in the 20th century also prioritised manufacturing processes, so it was not until the 1970s that a deep concern for our environment re-emerged.

Organisations such as Friends of the Earth were founded at that time. Protests, campaigns and activism brought attention to issues of air and water pollution, destruction of the countryside by road-building and protection of particular animal species. This later widened to energy conservation by home insulation and solar panels (non-recyclable, as it turns out), anti-fracking, anti-fur, and a narrative on reducing carbon footprints, put forward by elites who travel in private jets and big cars.

Going Green’ has become well-entrenched in today’s society and various Acts of Parliament have been passed in this regard. Recycling our rubbish is now a part of everyday life, along with checking product ingredients, eating vegetarian and vegan foods, and buying secondhand goods rather than new.

(Image: Kevin Croucher at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)