UK Student Travel News (17/8/11)

Here you can find the latest UK student travel news headlines for the week ending the 17th August 2011:

Increase in Fees Cuts Gap Years

16th August 2011: With student fees tripling in 2012, the number of students taking a gap year this year has decreased dramatically. With fees for many of the top universities in the UK increasing to £9,000 a year, students starting in 2012 will face leaving university with far more debt than those starting in 2011.

In the UK it is common for school leavers to take a year out to travel in Europe on a student budget. Last year 20,000 students deferred offers of a place on their university course to go student travelling, whilst that number has dropped to just 6,000 this year. Clare Beckett, head of recruitment at the University of West London, revealed:

"Gap years are a thing of the past. I can see them not existing. We have had very few people actually wanting to defer."

Those that had planned to go travelling but have since changed their minds should be able to claim back any costs so long as they have student travel insurance.

Travel Agencies Hit by English Riots

17th August 2011: A number of travel agencies in London, Manchester and Birmingham have all suffered from break-ins during the riots that swept England last week. A number have revealed that the total cost could be tens of thousands of pounds in damage and lost trade.

Shiv Travel in Croydon, which arranges flights, airlines and airport transfers for customers, was one of the worst hit, claiming that the riots cost them more than £35,000. One of the owners however counts himself lucky:

"If they had not found some cash they may have torched the shop - we found petrol cans outside."

Similarly, Tottenham Travel in North London- partly a student travel agency- had phones and computers stolen which cost the business up to £10,000.

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