A free education movement 

Organise regular coordinated local marches for free education across the country, bringing in

local communities and activists

Expand the fight for free education: campaign for living grants for all students in HE and FE

Build a fighting alliance of trade unions, students and community groups for free education to

mobilise nationally and pressure politicians

I am running for VP Higher Education because I want to see a radical campaign for free, democratic, liberatory education.

hattie craig for VP HE 

National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts National

Committee 2013-present* Played a key role in the mobilisation of the 10,000-

strong free education demo in November

* Supported activists across the country against

management repression, police violence and sometimes

their own student union leaderships

* Lead workshops on grassroots anti-cuts organising

and higher education policy

Birmingham Defend Education, 2011-present* Taken part in organising three occupations, fighting

for justice on campus, and dragged through

disciplinaries

* Helped win the living wage, working in solidarity

with staff and trade unions on campus

* Campaigned against and successfully overturned

students’ suspensions

Over the past year, we have witnessed an incredible change in the student movement: from a position in which free

If we want to win truly free education, we have to be honest with ourselves about the kind

of movement we need to win it. It is true that across the world, students have fought and

won on fees and grants. These movements have been massive, they have been radical, and they

have taken years. We need NUS to end its obsession with soft lobbying tactics. The idea that

some students and unions "aren't ready" for direct action isn't just patrionising, it is holding us

back.

that can win: not just wordsmy experienceUniversity of Birmingham Guild of

Students Education Officer 2013-14* Won bursaries instead of fee waivers

* Fought for the democratisation of my union

* Tackled hidden course costs

* Embedded liberation into the curriculum

Firstly, free education has to include democratisation and liberation in the curriculum and institutional governance, and the end to all

financial and social barriers to access. Second, we need to see free education as one front of a broader fight to transform society

and end exploitation, building alliances with workers. But most importantly we need an NUS leadership that has the courage and the

know-how to build a fighting movement rooted in a sustainable network of democratic unions, campus activist groups and local

communities.

We will not win on education funding when our campaigns, in spite of all the good policy

we pass, still look like those of a wet NGO. I will transform our union's national education

No borders, no nations: fight deportationsI stand for open borders: for complete freedom of movement. As well as being exploited and ripped-off

by landlords and universities alike, our members are the victims of daily racism and harassment by the

state. We need an NUS that is willing to confront that violence, and we need to mobilise and involve

international students to lead the fight for free education and a better society.

education was a contentious issue, to one where it has become largely accepted as a central demand. Winning free

education means three things for us.

Campaign to end attendance monitoring

Fight for asylum seekers to have home fees status

Practical solidarity to resist deportations and harassment

funding strategy:

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