After the hard work of the 1950’s, in at least creating a platform for student unions in Liverpool, the 1960s were always going to be a challenge. Education was changing nationally and Liverpool and its future polytechnic were at the heart of this change. The 1960s were a great time to be in Liverpool, as the Beatle mania had struck and Liverpool FC were changing the way football was played in England. The youth of the country were being encouraged to stand up for what they believed in and the students took part in this with the end result of course being Liverpool Polytechnic.
 Looking at the end of the decade in 1969, a NUS conference took place in Liverpool where Calder College and IM marsh were in attendance. The conference opens with lyrics to a song about Liverpool homes, a song that has been stereotyped over the years as a knock on Liverpool life.

While this was meant to be a warm welcoming to a city that wasn’t in the best condition, it expresses the trouble that the students in the city were suffering from and asks the members of the conference to take the issues seriously. Liverpool can be a very stereotyped city and the polytechnic did face issues around this for many years after its formation. It struggled to be taken seriously and that is why it suffered so much with funding. It was the student union and the students that helped rid the city of this stereotype and they continue to do so today.
The decade ended with a reminder of one challenge but throughout the decade the student unions of the colleges understood student problems. In 1961 it was reported via the NUS newspaper the Student News that they demanded university expansion for better access to education for the youth today. By the end of the decade the country had large polytechnics providing that better access. Throughout the decade students were warned of the dangers of communism, and in 1962 at the world youth festival in Helsinki, this was the major resulting issue. While our student unions allowed students to be individuals, this sets the standard for students never to become radicalised and that was confirmed when the poly formed and the student union started to operate.

Throughout the 60s the colleges that would later on help build the polytechnic continued to attend NUS conferences and from this they became stronger unions. Calder College and IM marsh attended yearly and at the conference in 1965 at Margate, Liverpool technical college attended too. At this conference the case against loans would be made and agreed upon. The fact that students went another 30 plus years without having to pay loans shows how much student unions can achieve when they are strong together and are willing to make a stand. 

All the colleges also fought for better student housing. Liverpool of all student cities had very poor and overpriced accommodation in the following years so this was an issue that did not get solved immediately but at least the unions were listening to their students and had the foresight to see the potential for future problems. In 1965 the NUS also arranged a mass rally about teacher’s salaries and the negative impact this could have on education, Liverpool students also attended this.

The next year the guardian newspaper wrote an extensive article about student issues and how they should be brought into the mainstream. LiverpoolSU from 1970 made sure that issues would become at least local issues as that is the best way to solve problems by gaining support from not just a student base. The guardian identified this and I like to think that around 1966 the student unions that 4 years later would form the polytechnics student union, were aware of how important that approach was. The following April, big news on education in Liverpool was made when the Liverpool Echo reported on the fact that 4 colleges in Liverpool were set to join and become Liverpool Polytechnic. The four colleges were Art, building, commerce and technology while Calder College and IM marsh would join later on. The following year in 1968 the 4 colleges stated that there were no plans in place for student representation and even if there was the feeling was that it would be fair representation was more of a token gesture.  In June 1968 the daily post included a plea from then union chief of the college of commerce Robert Rippon that plans for the polytechnic needed to be made. 16 other cities had seen actual plans while Liverpool seemed slow to react. He stated that facilities need to be improved and that staff can simply not do it by themselves. Using the platform of the local press to bring student issues into the open was useful here and by 1969 plans had been drawn up and the polytechnic was due to open in April 1970. Of course in terms of the student union there were still problems about student representation.

1969 gave us the plans for the government of the polytechnic. This showed that due to student union pressure nationally and locally, the papers for how the polytechnic should run included details of the polytechnics responsibility to their students and how they should operate. It was agreed that students would be included on the board they would have two student delegates that would help the running of the polytechnic while they would also have two representatives on the academic board. This was not ideal for the students and perhaps was the starting point to all the tensions that arose in the early 1970s? Student discipline was discussed in the document on how students should behave.

Most importantly, plans were put in place for the creation of a Liverpool polytechnic student union. This document was not weighed in the favour of students by any stretch of the imagination but it did offer a student’s union for the polytechnic and meant that from 1969 a group of colleges would become Liverpool polytechnic student unions. Undoubtedly a landmark moment in the history of our student union.