I have moved from Colchester to London to study for an Arts degree.

I am the first in my family to attend university, and I hope not to be the last.

Having attended Colchester Sixth Form College, I have first-hand knowledge that students are hardworking, high-achieving and ambitious. A record number of them are entering higher education.

I wouldn’t still be studying had it not been for the A-levels I earned at the college and I wouldn’t have studied for those either, had it not been for the education maintenance allowance.

As a young carer, from a single-parent family, our household relied heavily on state subsidies.

There would have been no feasible way in which I could have supported myself through further education without help.

I urge Colchester’s Lib Dem MP, Bob Russell, to fight to save the education maintenance allowance.

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg said earlier this year he wants a “university system available to as many people, from as many different back grounds as possible”.

The coalition Government’s plans to potentially triple fees to £9,000 will cut off access to many of the poorest, most talented students.

Had my university fees been any more than £4,000 per annum at the point of application, I wouldn’t have enrolled. I urge Mr Russell to vote on Thursday for the thousands of students he represents in Colchester.

SHELLY ASQUITH Tooting London ...I WAS interested to see the students cancelled the demonstration they had planned for Sunday afternoon in Colchester.

Organisers say it was because they had decided to concentrate on another demo on Wednesday.

I would suspect the truth is far simpler.

They know so few would turn up on a chilly Sunday afternoon it would be embarassing.

The organisers can be sure of attracting crowds of students when it is an alternative to lessons.

I would suggest the pull of political demonstration pales somewhat when compared to traditional Sunday attractions, such as lounging around at home, having a large lunch, or sleeping off a hangover.

I would also like to enquire of these students exactly what they are hoping to achieve by their demonstration today?

They have made their sentiments well known with two other demonstrations, and the town’s MP Bob Russell has said he is against the charges. All they will achieve is inconveniencing the very taxpayers who pay to subsidise their education in the first place.

J Clark
Mile End
Colchester