Speaking after the meeting Mr Ramsey said, "I had a very positive meeting with representatives of the Student Union at Magee to discuss the impact of high student fees. I intend to have a motion introduced to the Assembly asking for the Executive to examine the impacts of the fees and to explore ways of having the fees reduced or removed altogether.

"The Student Union is right to press the issue of student fees and student finance. I don't think there is any doubt that cost is becoming more and more of a barrier to students entering university.

"Student fees are now over £3,000 per year. In addition to normal cost of living, many parents are very worried that they will not be able to afford to send their sons and daughters to university.

“Students worry about the debts they build up during study that can take years to pay off. And, for most students, their incomes after graduation are not any higher than people who have left school and gone straight into trades.

"We are living in a society that needs people to go to university to become highly skilled so that they can run services and work in industry. If it wasn't for the graduates, there would be no high tech companies bringing much needed money into our economy. And so, it would seem reasonable that we as a society, should ensure that all students can afford to go to university."