Coventry University teams up with TV consumer campaigner to fight confusion over tuition fees

Coventry University is taking part in a national campaign today (Monday 14th November) which is dedicated to explaining the changes to student finance in England for 2012.

A number of activities will be taking place both online and on campus as part of Student Finance Day, an initiative headed by consumer campaigner Martin Lewis from MoneySavingExpert.com.

From 10am–12pm and from 2pm–4pm the University’s student finance advisors will be online on the popular Student Room forums for live Q&A sessions about tuition fees, and will also be available to answer questions during the following week.

The following Saturday, November 19th, will see Coventry University’s final open day of the year being held on the city centre campus from 8.30am–3pm, and the same student finance team will be available to offer one-to-one advice to prospective students and their parents to ensure they understand the implications of the new-for-2012 tuition fee system.

Coventry University has also created a dedicated page on its website to offer advice and help promote the campaign, and will actively be communicating with potential students about the new fee system via its busy Facebook page and Twitter feed both on Monday and during the following week.

Student Finance Day is the first national day of its kind and aims to ensure people understand how the new student finance package works before they make a decision as to whether they can afford to go to university.

Jane Whitehead, head of student funding at Coventry University, said:

We’re delighted to be taking part in this campaign, and we welcome the opportunity to use our open days and our online social media platforms to help prospective students understand what can, at first, come across as a complex and confusing fee system for 2012.

Student Finance Day represents an excellent chance to get the message across to students and parents that if you want to go to university, you can. It's a great way of letting people know what financial help out there and how they can take advantage of it.

I would strongly encourage any young people thinking of going to university to visit us during our open day on Saturday 19th November, where they will be able to speak first-hand with one of our expert student finance advisors.

Martin Lewis, head of the Independent Taskforce on Student Finance Information, said:

We have a near national crisis with the perception of student loan 2012 debt in England. Prospective students are making their decision based on headline fee levels rather than how much it’s actually likely to cost them. Many students, especially from lower income families are unnecessarily being put off. We need ensure they understand how it really works so they can make an informed decision.

We want to help with the great work I know is already happening in many schools to try and explain what the changes will mean and how they’ll work.  As part of this we’ve picked a day to try and focus the attention, and that will see schools, colleges, universities and money advisors all work together to make things happen.

Student Finance Day is being coordinated by the Independent Taskforce on Student Finance Information, which is chaired by Martin Lewis of MoneySavingExpert.com alongside the National Association of Student Money Advisers (NASMA) and the Higher Education Liaison Officers Association (HELOA).

To learn more about how Student Finance Day can help you understand the 2012 tuition fee system better, click here, and for more information on events happening near you and around the UK visit www.studentfinance2012.com.