Students may face difficult choices as tuition fees hit £7,000

With fees expected to hit 7,000-a-year many universities will have to charge less than the full amount allowed by the Government if they

want to attract students, it is claimed.

In 2006, most universities adopted the maximum top-up fee of 3,000-a-year, meaning students could not base their choice of institution and degree on price.

But if this latest rise in tuition fees goes ahead, possibly in two years, only top universities such as Oxford and Cambridge will be able to charge the full amount.

The University of Leicester also found students should be charged different prices based on the demand for the subject they want to study.

The Arts will be most seriously affected with many students of English and history unable to stomach such a steep rise.

But for subjects like medicine, higher charges would have little effect as most students would be prepared to pay more for such a qualification, the research found.

The study of 730 university applicants by researchers for the University of Leicester also found students from poorer backgrounds are most likely to turn their back on university unless they are offered bursaries.

Professor Sir Bob Burgess, the university's vice-chancellor, said: "The focus of the fees debate so far has been on how much universities should charge.

"But for a true fees market to emerge, institutions need to be able to set fees at different levels for different courses.

"Under those circumstances newer universities would still be able to charge the maximum for their most popular and highest quality courses, while research-led institutions may need to charge less than the full amount for less popular programmes."