Nearly 30 universities and colleges plan to charge tuition fees under £7.5k

The move, which comes less than three months before the university application deadline for 2012, will allow them to bid for a share of 20,000 student places made by the Government to universities that keep their fees low.

But thousands of students who have already applied to start university next autumn may now find fees have been changed. Plans to triple tuition fees to up to £9,000 were agreed by MPs last December, with many universities charging at, or close to, the maximum.

But in a White Paper, published in summer, ministers announced universities who charged at £7,500 or lower can bid for a share of 20,00 funded student places.

In light of these proposals, the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) has announced that 27 universities and colleges have submitted revised access agreements, which would see their average fees drop to £7,500 or lower for 2012. OFFA is to make a decision on the revised fees by November 30. This leaves a tight deadline for students, who have until January 15 to apply. The University and College Union general secretary, Sally Hunt, added: “The Government’s decision to move the goalposts on fee levels after it got its sums wrong exposes the mess it has made of university funding.”