Students end lecture theatre occupation

Students occupying an Edinburgh university lecture theatre have ended their protest, but pledged to carry out a series of 36-hour occupations to show their opposition to rising tuition fees.

Around 100 students took over the George Square Lecture Theatre at Friday lunchtime and remained there until midnight on Saturday, protesting at the institution’s recent decision to charge students from the rest of the UK £36,000 for a four-year degree. Mike Shaw, 19, a second-year physics student, said: “We don’t want to disrupt teaching but we want to disrupt management.

“There is very much a movement against what are absurd fee rises for Edinburgh and St Andrews that have gone completely beyond what is necessary to cover the withdrawal of funding.”

Fuming Freshers – Page 10