KCLSU claims victory over a successful NSS boycott

From hanging banners across the Great Hall railings to leafleting, lecture shoutouts, and spreading the word over a packet of Maltesers, KCLSU have triumphed over the NSS (National Student Survey).

This afternoon, Union President Ben Hunt and one of the lead students, alongside Andy Warren and Nicolas Nonym, explained that the success was down to hundreds of finalists not filling in the form leading to “a colossal drop from the previous year in the NSS fill in rate.”

KCLSU believe that the fill-in rate is below 50% meaning it will affect King’s ranking position. The NSS is  linked to the TEF (Teaching Excellence Framework), which will raise undergraduate tuition fees for home students year on year with the line of inflation – from September, new students will pay £9,250.

Speaking to The Tab, Ben said:

“King’s can raise the fees without the NSS but the boycott was the only way to put pressure on the university by removing them from rankings and pressuring Westminster. The fees are currently frozen for continuing students which we secured last year.

“Since January, we have flyered, done lecture shout outs, spoken to friends, put stuff on social media, and actively resisted the snakery of IPSOS Mori in consistent calls to get us to fill the survey. We have demonstrated to King’s and to Government that we will not accept any more increases to our fees.

“The fight is not over. In the General Election, choose policies which reflect the fight to stop fees rising, that protect international students and that will ensure education receives more funding. This is the way forward: to the doorstep, into our communities and into our campuses to halt these disastrous reforms and further rises to tuition fees.”