[ad_1]
A university will no longer be able to impose “academic sanctions” – such as library bans and stopping students from graduating – for failing to meet rent payments.
The University of Liverpool has dropped a controversial policy which penalised students for non-tuition fee debts, including accommodation fees, following widespread criticism.
It comes after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched action against the university.
More than 2,000 students at the university, which is part of the prestigious Russell Group, were placed under the academic sanctions between 2015-2016 and 2017-2018, the watchdog said.
The policy stopped students with outstanding accommodation fees accessing the university library and email services – and it prevented some from graduating, receiving certificates or re-enrolling.
1/34
South Korean policemen detain a student demonstrator during a protest against South Korean President Park Geun-Hye
EPA
2/34
South Korean policemen detain student protestors during a protest against South Korean President Park Geun-Hye outside the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea.
The protesters demanded that the parliament takes steps to impeach President Park Geun-Hye
EPA
3/34
Filipino demonstrators face off with anti-riot police during a protest near the US Embassy in Manila, Philippine
EPA
4/34
Hundreds of protesters including Indigenous People, students and militant groups marched towards the US Embassy to protest against the presence of US military troops and condemning the violent dispersal which left at least forty people hurt including twenty police officers and three people who were run over by a police van
EPA
5/34
A federal judge in Mexico has ordered that a once-fugitive police chief be held on charges of kidnapping in the disappearance of 43 students
6/34
A man holds up a photograph of a missing student with a caption reading ‘We are missing 43,’ during a meeting marking the 25-month anniversary of the disappearances of 43 students in the southern state of Guerrero, in Mexico City.
A federal judge in Mexico has ordered that a once-fugitive police chief be held on charges of kidnapping in the disappearance of 43 students
AP
7/34
Miguel Perez, an intern student from the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, puts away his cell phone before walking into the operating room at the Dr. Isaac Gonzalez MartÌnez Oncological Hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Once they complete their general surgery training, many residents are moving to the United States in search of better wages, one of the main factors linked to the current shortage of specialists in the Island
8/34
Fewer EU students have applied to start university courses in the UK next autumn.
There was a 9% fall in the numbers who had applied for courses, according to admissions service UCAS.
PA wire
9/34
University students protest against President Nicolas Maduro, in Caracas, Venezuela.
Masses of protesters jammed the streets of Venezuela’s capital on the heels of a move by congress to open a political trial against Maduro, whose allies have blocked moves for a recall election
AP
10/34
University students protest against President Nicolas Maduro, in Caracas, Venezuela
AP
11/34
Thousands, most of them high school students, march during a demonstration in Madrid, Spain, on a one day strike to protest about the country’s education law that increases the number of annual exams
AP
12/34
Students gather on the west mall to confront the Young Conservatives of Texas student organization over a controversial bake sale on The University of Texas campus in Austin, Texas.
The Young Conservatives of Texas chapter at the University of Texas-Austin sparked the protest with an affirmative action bake sale. The club encouraged students to buy a cookie and talk about the disastrous policy that is affirmative action
13/34
Donald Parish Jr, right, confronts Electrical and Computer Engineering senior Dewayne Perry over a controversial bake sale on The University of Texas campus in Austin, Texas.
The Young Conservatives of Texas chapter at the University of Texas-Austin sparked the protest with an affirmative action bake sale. The club encouraged students to buy a cookie and talk about the disastrous policy that is affirmative action
AP
14/34
Brigham Young University announced that students who report sexual assault will no longer be investigated for possible violations of the Mormon-owned school’s strict honor code that bans such things as alcohol use
AP
15/34
Students of secondary education march to protest against the final examinations and LOMCE (The Improvement Quality Education Law) law, after a call by trade unions, in Murcia, Spain
EPA
16/34
South African police have used stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse hundreds of protesters who had marched to the parliament building to call for free university education, where the finance minister was giving a budget speech
AP
17/34
Police break up student protests outside the parliament in Cape Town, South Africa
Reuters
18/34
South African Policemen fire rubber bullets at student protestors in Cape Town, South Africa
AP
19/34
A student protestor is hit by a rubber bullet in Cape Town, South Africa
AP
20/34
An injured student is helped by colleagues during protest outside the parliament during South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s medium term budget speech in Cape Town, South Africa
Reuters
21/34
Plaintiffs and bereaved families of elementary school students killed in the tsunami that followed a major earthquake in northeastern Japan in 2011, show banners that say ‘victory in a suit filed with the Sendai District Court’ in Sendai.
A Japanese court ordered municipalities to pay $13.7 million dollars to families of school children who were swept away to their deaths by the 2011 tsunami
Getty
22/34
A group of student at Ewha Womans University calls for a thorough investigation into those involved in years of engagement with state affairs backstage by Choi Soon-sil, a personal confidante of South Korean President Park Geun-hye, at the school’s front gate in Seoul, South Korea
EPA
23/34
Students raise placards during a strike action called by the student union, in Madrid against university entry exams
Getty
24/34
Libyans throw a newly graduated student into a fountain as they celebrate during the graduation ceremony for students from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Al-Arab University in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi
Getty
25/34
Libyans celebrate as they attend the graduation ceremony for students from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Al-Arab University in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi
Getty
26/34
Libyans celebrate as they attend the graduation ceremony for students from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Al-Arab University in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi
Getty
27/34
Thousands of Thai Catholic students take part in mourning tributes and in singing the Thai Royal Anthem to honour late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej at Saint Dominic School in Bangkok, Thailand
EPA
28/34
Students of Silpakorn University paint portraits of the late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej at the university campus in Bangkok
Getty
29/34
A student of Silpakorn University paints a portrait of the late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej at the university campus in Bangkok
Getty
30/34
St Andrews University students take part in a foam fight known as Raisin Monday in the Lower College Lawn behind St Salvator’s Quadrangle following the Raisin Weekend
PA wire
31/34
St Andrews University students take part in a foam fight known as Raisin Monday in the Lower College Lawn behind St Salvator’s Quadrangle following the Raisin Weekend, an annual tradition where student ‘parents’ inflict tasks on the unfortunate first-years they have adopted as ‘children’ as part of a mentoring scheme
PA wire
32/34
Students at the Cuba’s National Ballet School (ENB) in Havana, Cuba
Reuters
33/34
Students at the Cuba’s National Ballet School (ENB) take part in a practice in Havana, Cuba
Reuters
34/34
Students at the Cuba’s National Ballet School (ENB) wait in line to enter a classroom in Havana, Cuba
Reuters
1/34
South Korean policemen detain a student demonstrator during a protest against South Korean President Park Geun-Hye
EPA
2/34
South Korean policemen detain student protestors during a protest against South Korean President Park Geun-Hye outside the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea.
The protesters demanded that the parliament takes steps to impeach President Park Geun-Hye
EPA
3/34
Filipino demonstrators face off with anti-riot police during a protest near the US Embassy in Manila, Philippine
EPA
4/34
Hundreds of protesters including Indigenous People, students and militant groups marched towards the US Embassy to protest against the presence of US military troops and condemning the violent dispersal which left at least forty people hurt including twenty police officers and three people who were run over by a police van
EPA
5/34
A federal judge in Mexico has ordered that a once-fugitive police chief be held on charges of kidnapping in the disappearance of 43 students
6/34
A man holds up a photograph of a missing student with a caption reading ‘We are missing 43,’ during a meeting marking the 25-month anniversary of the disappearances of 43 students in the southern state of Guerrero, in Mexico City.
A federal judge in Mexico has ordered that a once-fugitive police chief be held on charges of kidnapping in the disappearance of 43 students
AP
7/34
Miguel Perez, an intern student from the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, puts away his cell phone before walking into the operating room at the Dr. Isaac Gonzalez MartÌnez Oncological Hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Once they complete their general surgery training, many residents are moving to the United States in search of better wages, one of the main factors linked to the current shortage of specialists in the Island
8/34
Fewer EU students have applied to start university courses in the UK next autumn.
There was a 9% fall in the numbers who had applied for courses, according to admissions service UCAS.
PA wire
9/34
University students protest against President Nicolas Maduro, in Caracas, Venezuela.
Masses of protesters jammed the streets of Venezuela’s capital on the heels of a move by congress to open a political trial against Maduro, whose allies have blocked moves for a recall election
AP
10/34
University students protest against President Nicolas Maduro, in Caracas, Venezuela
AP
11/34
Thousands, most of them high school students, march during a demonstration in Madrid, Spain, on a one day strike to protest about the country’s education law that increases the number of annual exams
AP
12/34
Students gather on the west mall to confront the Young Conservatives of Texas student organization over a controversial bake sale on The University of Texas campus in Austin, Texas.
The Young Conservatives of Texas chapter at the University of Texas-Austin sparked the protest with an affirmative action bake sale. The club encouraged students to buy a cookie and talk about the disastrous policy that is affirmative action
13/34
Donald Parish Jr, right, confronts Electrical and Computer Engineering senior Dewayne Perry over a controversial bake sale on The University of Texas campus in Austin, Texas.
The Young Conservatives of Texas chapter at the University of Texas-Austin sparked the protest with an affirmative action bake sale. The club encouraged students to buy a cookie and talk about the disastrous policy that is affirmative action
AP
14/34
Brigham Young University announced that students who report sexual assault will no longer be investigated for possible violations of the Mormon-owned school’s strict honor code that bans such things as alcohol use
AP
15/34
Students of secondary education march to protest against the final examinations and LOMCE (The Improvement Quality Education Law) law, after a call by trade unions, in Murcia, Spain
EPA
16/34
South African police have used stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse hundreds of protesters who had marched to the parliament building to call for free university education, where the finance minister was giving a budget speech
AP
17/34
Police break up student protests outside the parliament in Cape Town, South Africa
Reuters
18/34
South African Policemen fire rubber bullets at student protestors in Cape Town, South Africa
AP
19/34
A student protestor is hit by a rubber bullet in Cape Town, South Africa
AP
20/34
An injured student is helped by colleagues during protest outside the parliament during South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s medium term budget speech in Cape Town, South Africa
Reuters
21/34
Plaintiffs and bereaved families of elementary school students killed in the tsunami that followed a major earthquake in northeastern Japan in 2011, show banners that say ‘victory in a suit filed with the Sendai District Court’ in Sendai.
A Japanese court ordered municipalities to pay $13.7 million dollars to families of school children who were swept away to their deaths by the 2011 tsunami
Getty
22/34
A group of student at Ewha Womans University calls for a thorough investigation into those involved in years of engagement with state affairs backstage by Choi Soon-sil, a personal confidante of South Korean President Park Geun-hye, at the school’s front gate in Seoul, South Korea
EPA
23/34
Students raise placards during a strike action called by the student union, in Madrid against university entry exams
Getty
24/34
Libyans throw a newly graduated student into a fountain as they celebrate during the graduation ceremony for students from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Al-Arab University in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi
Getty
25/34
Libyans celebrate as they attend the graduation ceremony for students from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Al-Arab University in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi
Getty
26/34
Libyans celebrate as they attend the graduation ceremony for students from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Al-Arab University in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi
Getty
27/34
Thousands of Thai Catholic students take part in mourning tributes and in singing the Thai Royal Anthem to honour late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej at Saint Dominic School in Bangkok, Thailand
EPA
28/34
Students of Silpakorn University paint portraits of the late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej at the university campus in Bangkok
Getty
29/34
A student of Silpakorn University paints a portrait of the late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej at the university campus in Bangkok
Getty
30/34
St Andrews University students take part in a foam fight known as Raisin Monday in the Lower College Lawn behind St Salvator’s Quadrangle following the Raisin Weekend
PA wire
31/34
St Andrews University students take part in a foam fight known as Raisin Monday in the Lower College Lawn behind St Salvator’s Quadrangle following the Raisin Weekend, an annual tradition where student ‘parents’ inflict tasks on the unfortunate first-years they have adopted as ‘children’ as part of a mentoring scheme
PA wire
32/34
Students at the Cuba’s National Ballet School (ENB) in Havana, Cuba
Reuters
33/34
Students at the Cuba’s National Ballet School (ENB) take part in a practice in Havana, Cuba
Reuters
34/34
Students at the Cuba’s National Ballet School (ENB) wait in line to enter a classroom in Havana, Cuba
Reuters
The move comes after the higher education regulator, the Office for Students, warned that universities that impose library bans and blocked email access could face legal action.
The CMA, which issued guidance in 2015 against academic sanctions for non-tuition fee debts, has taken action against a number of universities in recent years over the practice.
Legally binding commitments have been secured from Buckingham and Buckinghamshire New universities, as well as University College London (UCL) and the University of Glasgow.
Now Liverpool will change contract terms so both current and former students are not penalised.
George Lusty, senior director for consumer protection at CMA, said: “This is great news for students at the University of Liverpool.
“We appreciate that legitimate debts from students should be recovered, but to stop them from progressing in their studies or graduating for unrelated debts is unfair.
“We welcome the commitment to removing academic sanctions for non-tuition fee debt and expect all universities to bring an end to similar policies and treat students fairly.”
The Liverpool Guild of Students this year launched a “Cut the Rent” campaign to try to reduce university accommodation prices to cut the number of students falling into rent arrears.
A University of Liverpool spokesperson said: “The University of Liverpool offers a range of support options for students who are struggling financially and in the 2017-18 academic year we provided in excess of £22m in scholarships and bursaries to our students.
“The University had kept its approach to sanctions for non-payment of residential costs under review with its Guild of Students for some time.”
The university added that they ceased applying existing sanctions for residential debt earlier in the year – prior to the CMA’s first contact with the university on this issue.
[ad_2]
READ SOURCE
