London Met University students protest against campus move

The £125m project would expand the Islington campus and close down the university’s buildings in East London. Currently, visual arts, architecture, business and law courses are taught in Aldgate and Moorgate, while the other courses are taught at the campus in Holloway Road.

The university insists that “new and improved facilities” on the expanded Holloway campus will benefit students.

But some students and staff are concerned that the move will result not only in courses being dropped but also in cuts to staff jobs and student places.

Barbara Ntumy, a student at the university and president of the London Metropolitan University Student Assembly Against Austerity was at the protest.

She said: “We are angry because we know that this is going to lead to so many important courses being abolished. London Met University once again finds itself at the sharp end of the Tory government’s brutal cuts agenda.

“Shamefully, the university management of London Met, rather than stand up for students and staff and make the case for proper, adequate funding, is being a cheerleader for brutal, excessive cuts.”

However London Metropolitan University denied that any cuts were planned.

In a statement, the university said: “We are slightly bemused by this protest, given that we aren’t cutting any student places, or ‘closing’ our fantastic Cass Faculty of Art, Architecture and Design.

“We wholeheartedly support people’s right to protest and voice their concerns, but these particular protesters seem to have their facts mixed up. The idea that we are ‘cutting’ student places to 10,000 is absurd; our current student enrolment scales up to a university of that size.”

The university added: “The university has been very clear that all students will have access to the facilities they need during their studies.

“The university also guarantees that facilities for students at Holloway will be equal to, or better than, those they currently enjoy at Aldgate.”