Universities fear 'bleak future' without fees rise

BRITAIN'S top universities may consider "radical options" such as going private if funding does not go up, the tuition fees review heard yesterday.

The director general of the Russell Group which includes Sheffield and Leeds universities, Dr Wendy Piatt, said the higher education sector would face a "bleak future" if more money was not pumped into the system.

Universities could miss out on attracting top academics and the best postgraduate students, and may be tempted to recruit more international students to make up funding shortfalls, she said.

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Giving evidence to the independent review of student funding, led by former BP chief Lord Browne, Dr Piatt warned that the quality of university education was already "perilously close" to being undermined.

In its written submissions to the review, published earlier this week, the Russell Group, which represents 20 leading research-intensive institutions, called for the tuition fee cap to be lifted

incrementally, institutions being able to charge different amounts for different courses.

The Russell Group said the sector was facing a deficit which could top 1.1bn by 2012-13, and action must be taken to provide more investment.

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Asked by the panel if Russell Group institutions would look at becoming private, Dr Piatt said: "That would require a lot of consideration and we would hope not to have to go there, but we would certainly have to consider more radical options."

Dr Piatt was also asked what would happen if the funding system did not change.

She said: "We are perilously close to undermining student quality. Universities are bending over backwards to protect quality of courses.

"I don't really see how, without any change in the system, there wouldn't be an undermining of the student experience."

She added: "I think they may have to think about taking on more international students."

Tuition fees are currently set at 3,225 per year.