Yesterday, the voice of students could be heard in local and national press, and on social media.

The messages posted on Twitter using #demo2012 reached an audience of over 2 million people in the last 48 hours.

643 people signed up and sent out the same message on Twitter and Facebook at 6pm last night – reaching an audience of nearly half a million people with this message:

“Education should open doors but the government is slamming them shut. Make education a priority #demo2012 http://thndr.it/Saqmeb”

Over 1 million people have viewed this demo specific website and seen the blogs from you about the importance of education.

Here’s just a snippet of the coverage from yesterday in the press:

Students’ protest march – BBC News

To coincide with the protest, the National Union of Students (NUS) has published a survey which suggests voters have not forgiven MPs who broke election promises over raising fees. Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, who promised to vote against raising …

Student protests 2012: why we marched – The Guardian (blog)

“The UCU supported today’s demonstration by the National Union of Students (NUS) and, personally, I was proud to be marching with my colleagues and students and to have addressed the crowd at the end of the march. Although the media seem only to be …

Mass Student Demonstration In London Passes Off Peacefully – Huffington Post UK

… in stark contrast to the 50,000-strong march two years ago. The march finished with a rally at Kennington Park, where the speakers includes author and commentator Owen Jones and the NUS president, but the wet weather appears to have dampened the spirits of some. … 2012 in London, England. The demonstration march was organised by the National Union of Students and is the first national student protest since a series of violent protests against tuition fees two years ago. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images) …

Students vow to sack fee traitors – Morning Star Online

National Union of Students (NUS) vice-president for higher education Rachel Wenstone told the Star: “We need to prove to politicians that we can bring out the student vote like we did in 2010, and we need to prove our vote matters and they can’t rip us off.” She said it was just as important to win over the parents … NUS president Liam Burns said these people want “Nick Clegg and every other MP who broke the pledge to go before they can do any more harm.” Lecturers’ union UCU president Kathy Taylor …

What the NUS demonstrations mean – The Independent (blog)

Today London will see the first demonstration called by the National Union of Students since the day that sparked that unrest. Over the last two years, little has improved for students as funding for courses has been cut and finding work after graduating is …

Students stage mass protest in London – The Guardian

The event organised by the National Union of Students (NUS) is the first organised student protest in London since a wave of demonstrations in 2010 triggered by the government’s plans to increase tuition fees, which led to a number of arrests and injuries as …

42000 put off university by tuition fees rise – Evening Standard ‎

Liam Burns, president of the NUS said: “It would be at best naive and at worst consciously ignorant to say that fees have not played a part in this. “We are marching to challenge the mindset of politicians. We want a different way of funding higher education, …

Students march in London protest – BBC News

There, NUS president Liam Burns was heckled by some of the crowd … The National Union of Students says tuition fees will still be an issue in …

Student Activists Protest In London Today – Londonist

Demo 2012, organised by the National Union of Students (NUS), calls for greater investment in education and employment. The march began at 11am in Temple Place and followed a route, devised collaboratively … Liam Burns, president of the NUS, said Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrats, had won the trust and votes of many students and parents by signing the pledge not to put up tuition fees, before reneging on his promise. He said: “As students gather in London today to demand investment in education …

Students protest University cuts – The Voice Online

The rally, which was organised by the National Union of Students (NUS) and supported by other unions and groups, is the first since the government’s plans to increase tuition fees from £3,290 to £9,000. The law was passed in 2010 by the cost cutting …

Students stage protest in London over tuition fees – London24

Picture: NUS/Twitter. The march started at Temple Place this morning, before heading across Victoria Embankment to a rally in Kennington Park planned for this afternoon, in which union leaders will speak. As a result, Westminster Bridge is closed in both directions … National Union of Students president Liam Burns said there were strong feelings on campuses around the country about education reforms, including the move to treble tuition fees and financial support for students as well as youth unemployment.

Student protest: Scuffles break out as police attempt to prevent protesters … – TNT Magazine

The National Union of Students organised the march which was supposed to move past parliament, over Westminster Bridge and gather in Kennington for a rally. But a splinter group tried to break away from the planned route reports the Evening Standard.

10000 students protest in London over rising cost of education – IBTimes.co.uk

The NUS – the National Union of Students – has published the results of a survey suggesting many of their members haven’t forgiven MPs for breaking election promises over increasing fees. These were the scenes in London back in November 2010 – where …

Students must keep believing in their cause – Evening Standard

If they can’t appeal to hearts, though, students can appeal to reason: a paper published last year, In Defence of Public Higher Education, …

100 Bradford students march for Government investment – Bradford Telegraph and Argus

The action formed part of a national demonstration by the National Union of Students which involved colleges and universities across the …

Students join London protest march – The Oxford Times

An estimated 10,000 people took part in the National Union of Students march, which highlighted issues such as higher fees.

I’ll be forced to go hungry if EMA subsidy is cut, says Belfast student – Belfast Telegraph

NUS-USI president Adrianne Peltz said the “devastating proposals” will have a “massive impact on young people’s futures”. “Students and …

Students protest against EMA cuts at Belfast City Hall – BBC News

The action coincides with the National Union of Students demonstrations in London. Students … Adrianne Peltz, president of the NUS-USI, said ministers must rethink their proposals, “as they will have a massive impact on young people’s futures”. “Students …

Students organise Day of Action to protest against cuts to the EMA scheme – Insideireland.ie

NUS-USI President Adrianne Peltz said that students and young people were facing ‘difficult’ times already, and to cut EMA to the level outlined in the recent consultation would be a ‘bodyblow to this and future generations here’. “Government must realise the …

Students Will March to ‘Bring Back EMA’ – Huffington Post UK (blog)‎

This will be the first national demonstration organised by NUS since the enormous 50,000 strong protest two years ago and it is long over due. Since 2010 the government’s war on students has intensified. We are facing soaring tuition fees, a lifetime of debt, …

Thousands of students marched through London to stand up for a different future and against a government that has put an entire generation at risk. From unprecedented levels of debt to high unemployment and an inability to get onto the property ladder, the issues facing students are down heartening to say the least.

We marched through London to take action against this, to demand a properly funded tertiary education system accessible to all; fair work, fair pay and sustainable jobs; and to create a movement to take our demands forward to the next General Election.

“It was an amazing day. Thank you to everyone that came out to march on the streets and all others that supported online. But the campaign is not over yet” Liam Burns, NUS President.

So what comes next? After the march and the rally, how do we take the enthusiasm and momentum back to our campuses and communities to create real and lasting change? The demo should act as the beginning, and at NUS we’ve been busy putting together a calendar of campaigns for students to get involved in, shape and take forward. All of these campaigns have arisen out of the democratic process that makes NUS what it is, and shaped by our message: educate, employ and empower.

You may already have taken actions as part of campaigns NUS, your students’ union and/or societies are involved in; now is the time to get more involved in these campaigns on a local and national level, so that together we can make a real difference to students’ lives!

In the next few months

Your unions, societies and yourselves as students have the opportunity to get involved in NUS’ key campaigning priorities for the next few months. These could be employment issues such as securing the living wage at universities and colleges, or ending unpaid internships to ensure more equitable routes to employment. We are also focusing on a range of education issues, such as securing better timetabling at institutions so that students find themselves able to participate fully; tackling the government’s proposed fees & loans model for further education; proposing an alternative funding model for postgraduate education, and reducing the exorbitant accommodation costs faced by students.

One key date to keep in mind is December 5^th – the launch of the Pound in Your Pocket research, the first ever in-depth, comprehensive study into student support outside of the loans system. We will be publishing the final report on NUS Connect.

Empowerment runs through all of our campaigns and one of the key reasons we have demonstrated under this slogan is that many of the issues we have and intend to campaign for are all connected. All four liberation campaigns have a number of actions coming up, including a series of activist training days (watch this space for key dates!), the Black Students’ Winter conference (1-2 December; come along if you are or represent Black students) and Disabled History Month, which starts today.

Why not use the Disabled History Month toolkit to get involved in or start a change campaign in December? Whether that’s about fighting cuts to support services, or starting a campaign to change your institution’s policies on mental health, signing the Time to Change Pledge as a first step, there are a number of things you can do.

Immediate actions – unpaid internships and equal marriage!

Unpaid, unfair, illegal

A couple of immediate things you can do to keep the momentum of #demo2012 going is to get involved in our campaigning against unpaid internships and for equal marriage. We will be asking you to email your MP to ask them to stand up and say yes to a 10 minute rule bill, which calls for the advertising of unpaid internships to be outlawed, as a step to removing inequitable routes to employment. We will be releasing a draft letter and guidance to students’ unions in early December – watch this space!

Equal marriage

In December we will be launching a campaign for equal marriage, calling on the government to bring in legislation introducing marriage for same sex couples, so that people can have the opportunity to decide for themselves how to express their relationships. The first step of the campaign will be asking students to sign a petition, which you can do now. We’ll be supporting students’ unions to plan a range of creative actions in their communities and campuses before and after Christmas, contact their MPs and come along to a rally on Valentine’s Day 2013, as well as a lobby of Parliament on the day that MPs vote to adopt it or not!

Another key date soon after the demo to keep in mind is November 24^th – the Reclaim the Night march, organised by the London Feminist Network, supported by NUS’ Women’s campaign; come along and say no to all forms of violence against women.

Other key priorities for December

In December we’ll also be releasing a whole load of resources for students’ unions to digest, use to plan campaigns and engage students, along with opportunities to get involved in research and come along to activist training days. A few highlights include:

• Equal Access campaign – in partnership with the Student Action for Refugees (STAR), we are launching a campaign calling for equal access to higher education for refugees and asylum seekers, so that they can join students at university as equals. We will be providing a toolkit in mid-December for students’ unions and societies to use.
• Living wage training & resources – in December and January we will be holding two training days (watch this space for dates!) for students and student officers new to campaigning for the living wage and existing campaigners, alongside resources to aid securing accreditation.
• Accommodation costs – in December we will be launching a guide for students’ unions to use the recently launched accommodation costs survey data (which revealed that the average cost of a room in university owned accommodation in the UK doubled in just ten years), in creative campaigns to ensure students are not priced out of living in halls. Watch this space!
• Shareholder activism training – why not come along on December 12^th and get clued up on how to use innovative tactics to encourage your institution and companies to invest responsibly; in partnership with FairPensions, the campaign for responsible investment.

In the New Year

In the New Year we will be launching a range of campaigns you can get involved in, where we will be providing resources such as campaign guides and materials, plus national events and actions. Watch this space!

• Keep FE free: The next stage to our campaign is to ensure apprentices are exempt from the government’s proposed FE fees and loans model, we will be supporting students and students’ unions to engage in a range of actions, with a national constituency lobby to take place in January!
• Child-friendly campuses: Beginning of January – we are launching a campaign enable students’ unions to make their campuses child-friendly, so that student parents do not experience barriers to completing their studies
• FE complaints campaign: In December we’ll be asking students to write a Christmas card of complaint to their MP, as the first step to a new campaign we are launching through which we are aiming to secure an independent complaints adjudicator for further education.
• Better timetabling: In mid-January we will be supporting students’ unions to campaign to secure better timetabling at their institutions so that students find themselves able to participate fully. Expect a full campaign planning guide with creative campaign ideas, resources and more!
• Postgraduates who teach: A campaign to enable students’ unions to use data from our national survey to establish best practice for postgraduate students who teach. To be launched early February. We will be building campaigning activity up to and beyond the UCU anti-casualisation march on March 6^th.
• Stop cutting women out of education: We will be launching an action pack in January to enable students’ unions to identify and collect information on cuts to services and courses & build links with community groups, so that we can campaign to prevent and reverse them.
• Postgraduate funding: Following the launch of our report outlining an alternative model for funding postgraduate education, we will be working to build support and launch a campaign to involve students in making postgraduate education more accessible and sustainable.
• Stop and search– with the government having extended the stop and search powers for further education institutions, putting the welfare and rights of students at risk, we will be launching a campaign in January to reverse the changes at a national level and to support students and students’ unions to ensure their institutions do not adopt them.
  • Student carers research: We are launching the first ever comprehensive research focusing on student carers: a group of students who currently receive no financial support for their caring responsibilities. We will be running interviews and focus groups in January and February, so if you want to get involved, watch this space!
  • Out in education: As part of NUS’ project to support students in higher and further education to tackle homophobia in schools we will be launching a campaign in the New Year. More details to come soon.
  • Lad culture: NUS has commissioned a piece of independent research into lad culture on campus and the experience of women students. We’re looking forward to hearing the findings and supporting students and students’ unions to use the research to create change. Watch this space! Click here for more information.
  • All four liberation conferences: will be taking place from February to May, see NUS Connect for dates.

We will be in touch shortly with more information and opportunities to get involved in all of the upcoming campaigns. Do contact us on campaigns@nus.org.uk, if you have any questions. Educate, employ, empower!

Josie Long has just opened the rally at Kennington Park and is about to introduce the first speaker.

Keep tweeting @nusuk

The line up includes Owen Jones and our very own Liam Burns, NUS president.

Currently finding shelter to update this blog.

Students and supporters still in high spirits and #demo2012 has been trending all day.

We have a great line-up of speakers and the chants re really getting going.

There has been a sit down protest at Big Ben but people are now moving around to form a strong united march once again.

The front of the march has slowed down to let people catch up. You might be able to hear the cheering from where you are!

Keep track of where we are by following @nusuk

Central London is currently at a stand-still. Let’s make our voices heard!

The weather seems to be holding off and we are getting loads of great press coverage. Keep tweeting your pictures to us @nusuk and we would love to hear your reasons for marching today.

The march is still assembling in Temple Place (Embankment) make your way there now!