THE president of the NUS told Bournemouth University’s (BU) students it was time to “move on” from the fees debate.

Aaron Porter held a lecture and debate session for staff and students on Wednesday and said it was time to oppose the cuts to the teaching budget.

There were questions about “What next?” Mr Porter told the Echo afterwards.

He added: “My response is that we would retrain our principal opposition to the funding crisis. We have got to move it on.”

He added that students should now focus on the £3billion that has been cut from the university teaching budget.

Mr Porter, who was criticised by some left wing student groups for not being militant, said he was pleased to have helped put student issues back on the agenda.

He also said students should back their lecturers over a pensions and pay dispute that yesterday saw BU staff join colleagues across the country in a one-day strike.

In contrast, Bournemouth’s student union said that while it respected the lecturers’ right to strike, it would work with the university to minimise disruption.

BU is currently considering what fees to charge and the majority of universities that have given their figures have opted for the £9,000 maximum.

It is understood to be considering fees of £8,000 to £9,000.

Mr Porter said BU was “well placed” for the future because it has departments like the media school.

But he added: “That said, £8,000 is an extremely large amount of money for a prospective student.

“We need to ensure they are getting high quality advice.”