The University has this morning abandoned its plans to cut the level of bursary available to the poorest students, following an emergency protest last Thursday and criticism from CUSU.

Under the University’s proposals, plans were in place to cut the maintenance bursary from £3,400 to £1,625 whilst introducing fee-waivers of up to £3,000 to compensate for the fall in bursary.

CUSU submitted amendments to the University Council’s grace in an attempt to “save bursaries. However, the Vice-Chancellor refused to allow a vote on the matter despite the amendments being supported by 140 members of Regent House; more than five times as many signatures as required by the constitution.

In what was seen as an undemocratic and unconstitutional move by the Vice-Chancellor, CUSU organised an emergency protest last Thursday outside Old Schools.

Over 800 protestors convened for the protest and a protest camp was even set up on the Senate House Lawn for one evening.

In a statement this morning, a University Spokesperson said: “The Council has consulted within the University, including with students, on the make-up of the financial package of support.

“At today’s meeting, chaired by the Vice-Chancellor, it was decided to enhance the present Cambridge Bursary Scheme which offers support of up to £3500 each year. The Scheme will offer individual students the choice of taking their Cambridge bursary as a fee waiver or a cash sum. In addition, students from especially disadvantaged backgrounds will be offered a further fee waiver of £6000 – more than matching the National Scholarship Programme.

"This package will ensure that for those students from lower income households it is no more expensive to study at Cambridge than at other UK universities. In particular, it will offer enhanced support to those who need it most, and allow students to assess their own needs and access support from the University in the way which suits their circumstances best."

It appears that the University has backed down on the bursary matter given the level of disquiet from the student body over the past week.

The University now appears to agree with CUSU that student choice is the most important matter and that it should be up to eligible students to decide whether they want their £3,500 bursary in cash or as a fee-waiver.

CUSU today proclaimed on their website “CUSU saves our bursaries!” and CUSU president Rahul Mansigani added, “I am delighted that we have forced the University to throw out its plans to cut maintenance bursaries. The University has finally conceded that students should have the right to choose how they spend their money.”

He goes onto say, “Whilst we are pleased at the concessions we have obtained, this is only the first stage of ensuring that the University provides the poorest students with the financial support that is both realistic and necessary to offset the catastrophe of £9000 fees, and we urge all our students to keep campaigning."