Universities in dilemma over fee rankings

Oxford has become the latest member of the Russell Group to confirm that it plans to charge the maximum amount allowed in fees from 2012.

The Yorkshire Post also revealed yesterday that Leeds University is also considering proposals for a full £9,000-a-year fee.

However a spokeswoman for Sheffield University said it was currently looking at several fee options including charging less than the maximum amount allowed.

The cap on fees has been increased from just over £3,000 to £9,000 from next year in a controversial move which sparked widespread violent student protest.

Cambridge University became the first to announce that it planned to charge the maximum amount allowed and since then Imperial College London and Exeter – which is not a member of the prestigious Russell Group – have also followed suit. No universities in Yorkshire have announced their fee proposals yet.

However the Yorkshire Post obtained an internal report from Leeds University which revealed that it was also planning to charge £9,000 a year.

Now Yorkshire’s other Russell Group member Sheffield has revealed that it is considering charging less. A university spokeswoman said: “Various fee options are currently being modelled and a final decision will not be taken until the University’s Council has met and considered these recommendations.

“As part of this process the university has entered into an open and inclusive dialogue with staff and students across the university on why prospective students should choose Sheffield and what they can expect when they are here.

“Whatever the decision on fee levels, Sheffield University will continue to place great emphasis on widening participation and will continue to strive to ensure cost is not a barrier to students. We are, and will remain, committed to ensuring that higher education is open to anyone who has the potential, ability, determination and motivation to benefit .”

Huddersfield University is the only one in the region to rule out charging the full £9,000.

Leeds Metropolitan, Hull, Sheffield Hallam and York St John have all said no decisions have been taken so far.

Oxford University announced yesterday that it planned to charge £3,500 tuition fees for first-year students from the poorest backgrounds from 2012.

Although the institution plans to charge the full £9,000 a year for undergraduates whose parents and guardians earn more than £25,001, it has put forward a sliding scale of fees for lower-income families.

A student from a household earning less than £16,000 per annum would be charged £3,500 for the first year and £6,000 for subsequent years. Currently, the maximum charge is just over £3,000 per year. They would also qualify for the highest tier of bursary offered by the university to cover student living costs, of £4,300 in the first year and £3,300 afterwards.

But those from households earning between £16,001 and £20,000 would be charged £7,000 for every year of study, and the annual cost would be £8,000 for families with an income of £20,001 to £25,000.

Vice-chancellor Andrew Hamilton said in a letter to parents and staff that “about one-in-six” students would benefit from the tuition fee waivers.

He said: “The total value of the package of waivers and bursaries is more than £12m a year, nearly double what we spend at present.

“Our overarching aim is to widen access to Oxford from groups that are currently under-represented – whether they are from particular schools and colleges, neighbourhoods, people from disadvantaged backgrounds, or people with disabilities.”

The university’s council also approved plans to spend an extra £750,000 on access and outreach work and £750,000 more on student support in the 2012/13 academic year.

Under the Government’s reforms of university finance, institutions which plan to charge more than £6,000-a-year have to demonstrate how they will help support more disadvantaged students getting into higher education.

Ministers said at the time of the vote on fees last year that universities would only be able to charge £9,000 a year in “exceptional circumstances.”

However critics of the policy fear the majority will follow the example of the top universities and charge the maximum allowed as a “badge of prestige.”

National Union of Students President Aaron Porter has warned that the policy will create a £9,000 club of top charging universities.

From next year universities will be more reliant on income from fees because teaching grants are being cut by £2.9bn – up to 80 per cent. Only courses in subjects covering science, technology, engineering and maths will receive state funding. Vice chancellors have said they will need to raise fees to at least £7,000 in order to recover the funding they have lost.

Universities have until mid-April to submit tuition fee plans to the government’s Office for Fair Access (OFFA) for approval. An OFFA spokesman said all proposals would be approved or rejected by July 11.