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Source: Alamy

The National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts said that students in Cambridge had ¡°defaced the front of the local Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS), and the University of Bath was blockaded by students¡±.

It added that further action and protests, taking place on the day that Chancellor George Osborne delivers the Autumn Statement, were ¡°expected¡± at other universities, including the universities of Manchester, Birmingham and Warwick.

The NCAFC was one of the groups that organised the 19 November protest for ¡°free education¡± in central London.

Deborah Hermanns, of the NCAFC, said: ¡°We are witnessing a resurgence of student activism, not just against tuition fees but for an alternative vision for education ¨C which is democratic, public and accessible to everyone. The only way we are going to win this is through direct action.¡±

Callum Cant, of the Warwick Free Education Campaign and NCAFC, said: ¡°Across the higher and further education sectors, managers ¨C especially in the Russell Group ¨C are backing fees, cuts and privatisation. Today we are making the point that that is not representative of anyone, and we are demanding that management recognise the democratic will of students and staff: for free education.¡±

On 26 November, the NCAFC backed an occupation at Birmingham. The university said it was ¡°extremely disappointed that a small number of masked individuals¡± had ¡°again illegally occupied a key teaching and administrative space at the University of Birmingham causing considerable disruption to students, staff and visitors¡±.

john.morgan@tesglobal.com