STUDENTS National Union of Students (NUS) conference voted yesterday to thwart Tory plans to introduce harsher  assessments for college teachers.

The motion to boycott government surveys which feed into teaching assessments  passed with a comfortable majority, to the delight of free education campaigners.

It was drafted by the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts. Recently elected University of Warwick education officer Hope Worsdale explained: “These surveys are essential to maintaining a market in education, which turns students into little more than consumers.