Ninth Level Ireland

“The QUB Senate today (28/10/2011) announced an initiative to encourage students coming from GB. The university will offer grants to those with high grades in specific subjects. Basil McCrea said: ‘Although this is a step in the right direction, I am disappointed that more could not be done to encourage students from the rest of the United Kingdom to study in Northern Ireland’ …” (more)

[Basil McCrea MLA, 28 October]

“Queen’s University has announced it will charge students from England, Scotland and Wales fees of £9,000 a year. Fees for Northern Ireland students have already been frozen at £3,465 …” (more)

[Patrice Dougan, Belfast Telegraph, 29 October]

“Students from Great Britain who want to study at Queen’s University will be charged up to £9,000 per year. It is the highest fee a university can charge for students from outside Northern Ireland …” (more)

[BBC News, 28 October]

“Northern Irish students hoping to enter the University of Ulster next year could face tougher entry requirements than applicants from the rest of the UK, it has emerged. Richard Barnett, Ulster’s vice-chancellor, raised the prospect of different entry grades as the two sets of students are no longer competing over the same funding …” (more)

[David Matthews, Times Higher Education, 27 October]

“Jim Allister’s been giving out that there aren’t enough Protestants going to universities here. Or rather, that there are more Catholics going than Protestants …” (more)

[Nuala McKeever, Belfast Telegraph, 24 October]

“An Ulster Unionist MLA will attempt to block plans to charge higher tuition fees to students from the rest of the UK coming to Northern Ireland. Basil McCrea said the plan is neither fair nor equitable. But he is likely to see objections quashed …” (more)

[Noel McAdam, Belfast Telegraph, 24 October]

“A UUP MLA has said he will make an Assembly bid to stop universities charging higher fees to students from England, Scotland and Wales. Fees for students from Northern Ireland are to be frozen at £3,500 but students from elsewhere in the UK will be charged up to £9,000 from next year …” (more)

[BBC News, 23 October]

“Traditional Unionist Voice leader Jim Allister has accused the University of Ulster of a ‘lamentable failure’ in recruiting more Protestants …” (more)

[Irish Times, 20 October]

“A unionist MLA has described as ‘alarming’ new figures which show that just a third of students attending Northern Ireland’s universities are Protestant. Jim Allister was responding to new figures from the North’s Department of Employment and Learning which showed there are considerably more Catholic students at the two main universities …” (more)

[Anthony Neeson, Irish Echo, 19 October]

“Just a third of the 35,000 students attending university in Northern Ireland are Protestant, according to new figures. That means around two-thirds of people at Northern Ireland’s universities are from a Catholic background …” (more)

[BBC News, 17 October]

“Students from Northern Ireland who go to Scotland for their degree face an average annual fee of just under £7,000 a year …” (more)

[Katrine Bussey, Belfast Telegraph, 4 October]

“A student from England is threatening to take the Northern Ireland Executive to court over its stance on tuition fees …” (more)

[Amanda Poole, Belfast Telegraph, 3 October]

“A leading academic at the University of Ulster’s Magee campus has accused the Department of Employment and Learning of lurching from crisis to crisis over student places. Professor Deirdre Heenan said the huge demand for places would mean students will lose out …” (more)

[BBC News, 2 October]

“A solicitor involved in a tuition fees challenge in England and Wales has warned that attempts to charge students from the rest of the UK more than their local counterparts is in breach of Northern Ireland and European law …” (more)

[Lindsay Fergus, Belfast Telegraph, 14 September]

“The Executive could face legal challenges from students in England, Scotland and Wales who will be charged up to £9,000 to study at Northern Ireland’s universities, it has been warned …” (more)

[Lindsay Fergus, Belfast Telegraph, 13 September]

“Students from Great Britain are to be charged thousands of pounds more than students from the Republic of Ireland to study at Northern Ireland’s universities – a decision which has been described as short-sighted and potentially damaging to the Union by Ulster Unionists …” (more)

[News Letter, 13 September]

“Students from the rest of the UK wishing to study in Northern Ireland could face fees of up to £9,000 a year, the Stormont Assembly has been told. The decision to increase charges for prospective admissions from England, Scotland and Wales comes after the region’s power-sharing executive decided not to substantially increase rates for local students …” (more)

[Independent, 12 September]

“The employment and learning minister is due to give the assembly more details on how he will pay for the freeze in university tuition fees later. Dr Stephen Farry announced last week that fees for students in NI will remain at about £3,500 a year …” (more)

[BBC News, 12 September]

“The £20m hit to the Department of Employment and Learning’s budget following the decision to freeze university tuition fees will have major repercussions on services it provides, the head of its scrutineer committee has warned …” (more)

[Lindsay Fergus, Belfast Telegraph, 10 September]

“Northern Ireland students who attend university here will pay the lowest tuition fees in the UK. Fees will be around £3,375 – almost two-thirds less than the £9,000 maximum being charged by some universities in England …” (more)

[Lindsay Fergus, Belfast Telegraph, 9 September]