‘Yobbish’ Behaviour in Oxford Blamed on Tuition Fees

£9000 fees make students feel like ‘customers rather than pupils’ according to Oxford residents.


Residents in Oxford have complained about a rise in ‘yobbish’ behaviour in students and reported incidents of people vomiting in the streets, urinating outside their houses and even sneaking into their gardens to have sex. According to Brookes, this has also been a record year for complaints with 45 being made in the first five weeks of term.

Ivon Asquith of the Divinity Road Area Residents Association believes that this is down to the tuition fee rise which came into play in September, with students now paying £9,000 a year compared to the previous £3,000.

The high street on Halloween.

Asquith said “I have met several people, including some people at Brookes, who think that the higher fees make some students feel more like customers rather than pupils. At the same time, universities don’t want to lose students who are paying them £9,000 a year, making universities more inhibited about disciplining them.”

Society initiations and their various drinking related challenges have continued despite being banned by the University. On the night of the sports ones in Fuzzies, Police were stationed throughout the town to help with the carnage and Halloween last week was a similar scene.

But is it really fair to say that this is down to the rise in tuition fees? Or has this not been going on long before any of us were even here?

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