Universities in England ready to roll back fees

Almost 30 universities in England are considering lowering their tuition fees with eight of them already taking steps to do so, the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) has confirmed.

The White Paper that resulted in a rise in tuition fees in England and Wales outlined a means for institutions charging less than an average £7,500 to bid for an extra 20,000 student places.

The higher education institutions that wish to change their fees must submit plans to OFFA by the end of this week with 28 said to be eyeing-up the move. Shadow Universities Minister Gareth Thomson said: "The fees set by universities are a mess of the Government's own making after they cut university funding by 80 per cent and allowed tuition fees to treble."

Toni Pearce, vice president for further education of the National Union of Students (NUS) said: "Tens of thousands of applicants now face an anxious wait at an already stressful time. Students looking to assess and compare what support will be available to them will be facing weeks of uncertainty and many will find that vital bursaries have been replaced with tokenistic fee waivers."

There is a fear that the tuition fees charged in Scotland are too high, especially in light of the drop in England. The average cost for a degree in Scotland now sits at £30,000, with St. Andrews and Edinburgh universities charging the maximum of £9,000 per annum over the course of a four-year degree.

Robin Parker, NUS Scotland President said: "If the average fee does indeed come down in England, the more expensive degree cost in Scotland will only look even more out of place.

"It [the Scottish Government] should now step in and save the principals from themselves by introducing a minimum standard for bursaries for the poorest students, and setting a lower, non variable fee for students from the rest of the UK."