Maintenance grants 'robbing Peter to pay Paul'

On the maintenance grant, UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: 'Treating international students as cash cows to fund maintenance grants amounts to robbing Peter to pay Paul. This country is already charging international students through the roof to prop up our crumbling education infrastructure. Instead of attacking foreign students, the Labour Government should be fixing our colleges and universities through huge public investment.'

On further education, Jo said: 'The Education Secretary started her speech with a story about Alan, a further education teacher, the first father figure many of his students had ever known. Unfortunately, today the Alans of this world are leaving further education because pay is so low and workloads are so high.

'There is a recruitment crisis with college teachers earning around £10k less than their counterparts in schools. That's why we are balloting over 70 colleges across England for strike action. If Bridget Phillipson wants to create more Alans, she needs to start by paying FE staff properly.'