The walkout ¨C which is set for noon on 14 March ¨C is being accompanied by marches, rallies, discussions, petition signings and other campaign actions, the National Union of Students has said.

Events taking place include a ¡°teach-in¡± at King¡¯s College London and a rally involving students from the University of Liverpool and Liverpool Hope University.

Liam Burns, president of the NUS, said students wanted to demonstrate their anger at ministers who have not made clear their plans for increased marketisation of higher education.

They were also angry that universities had been pushed towards providing tuition fee waivers rather than upfront bursaries to help students.

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¡°We need a national debate on changes to higher education, and this week we will remind ministers that we are watching what they¡¯re doing,¡± he said.

¡°When the government quietly dropped plans for a higher education bill earlier this year, they didn¡¯t drop their plans.

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¡°They simply removed the opportunity for the kind of scrutiny that has been afforded to changes to the NHS.

¡°Students, parents, lecturers and anyone with a stake in education all want to know what the government and our institutions have in store for higher education and demand that they come clean.¡±

jack.grove@tsleducation.com