Students unite against UK fees hike

Thousands of students across the UK have been staging sit-ins, walk-outs and demonstrations to show their opposition to the increase in tuition fees.

The nationwide protest, organised by the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts (NCAFC), has driven schoolchildren and sixth-formers as well as students and lecturers onto the streets to demonstrate.

It was estimated that at least one in ten students planned to take part in protests today.

Here is a snapshot of some of the protests taking place.

:: Bristol – Nearly 1,000 students marched from the Senate House to the student union building, where hundreds have occupied the site. Students from the University of Bristol and the University of the West of England are protesting, as well as pupils from St Brendan’s Sixth Form College and Bristol Grammar School. Roads have been blocked and mounted police are keeping demonstrators under control.

:: Liverpool – Students gathered at the Liverpool Guild of Students this morning to march to the town hall, monitored by heavy police presence. Up to 3,000 people staged a noisy but peaceful protest march through Liverpool city centre.

Watched over by scores of Merseyside Police, the crowd brought traffic to a standstill and attracted workers out of shops and offices to wave and cheer in support.

:: Birmingham – Protesters occupied part of the University of Birmingham’s Great Hall, and up to 40 students broke into the Aston Webb building to stage a 36-hour sit-in. The students waved a banner calling for the university’s vice chancellor to resign.

:: Sheffield – 2,000 students and secondary school pupils joined protests in the city, marching to Sheffield Town Hall for a mass demonstration. Nearly 300 pupils, mainly sixth formers, walked out of King Edward’s School in Sheffield to join the rally, despite being warned that their absence was unauthorised. Reports of plans of a protest at Nick Clegg’s constituency office in Sheffield led to extra officers being posted outside the building in Nether Green.

:: Leeds – 1,000 students made their way through the city centre to Victoria Gardens, where a large police presence was put in place. Up to 60 students walked out of Allerton Grange School in the north of the city to join the demonstration.

:: In Brighton, up to 3,000 paraded through the city.

Around 15 protesters gained entry to a university building in Grand Parade.

There were also protests at Brighton Town Hall where a small group was asked to leave by security officers.

One arrest was made at Priory House for breach of the peace, Sussex Police said.

Objects such as eggs and fireworks were thrown around the march in North Street and some towards two banks but there were no reports of damage or injuries.

The force helicopter, H900, circled overhead to give officers on the ground information.

:: Cambridge - 1,000 students from universities and sixth-form colleges have been taking part in the protests. A number of students climbed over railings at the university's Senate House, where onlookers described the scene as ``crazy''.

Two students were arrested by Cambridgeshire Police for obstruction, and there were some reports from protesters of police violence. Students from Parkside Community College staged a walk-out to show their support.

:: Plymouth – Students occupied a room at the University of Plymouth, demanding a list of concessions from the university’s vice chancellor, Professor Wendy Purcell. Two hundred students from King Edward VI Community College in Totnes also planned a walk-out in protest over the fees.

:: Derbyshire – Around 300 secondary school students marched on County Hall in Derbyshire, after leaving classes at Highfields School in Matlock this morning. There was also a walk-out at Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School in Ashbourne.

:: Durham – More than 700 students assembled outside the Town Hall before marching to Durham Cathedral in a peaceful demonstration. Postgraduate Guy Hutchinson told BBC News: “Protesters are walking through the streets of Durham. There are school students, university students and a few university lecturers.”

:: Edinburgh – Around 250 students marched from the city’s university hub of Bristol Square to set up camp outside the Edinburgh Liberal Democrats’ office in Haymarket. The protest has been monitored by heavy police presence throughout.

:: Nottingham – Around 60 school pupils from Tooting school, Bingham, gathered to protest outside Nottingham town hall. They have been joined by students from the city’s two universities in a peaceful demonstration.

:: Manchester – Neary 3,000 students from universities, colleges and schools gathered at University Place in the city. A group of several hundred protesters broke away from the main demonstration marched to the town hall, shouting: “No ifs, no buts, no education cuts”.

:: London – as well as the main protest in Whitehall, where more than 10,000 students are estimated to be taking part, several smaller protests are taking place across the capital. Staff and students at the Royal College of Art in Kensington staged a peaceful walk-out at lunchtime today, while hundreds of students at University College London have occupied a room in the central campus of the university.