Oxbridge academics call for end of fee caps
The Chancellor of Oxford University and the Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University have both called for a removal of the cap on tuition fees for students from independent schools.
Speaking at a gathering of 250 top independent schools, Lord Pattern, the Chancellor of both Oxford and Newcastle Universities, announced that the middle classes could not possibly voice an objection to this, given the amount that they were prepared to spend a private education.
“It is surely a mad world in which parents and grandparents are prepared to shell out thousands of pounds to put their children through private schools…and then object to them paying a tuition fee,” he said.
The comments come ahead of next year’s government review on the current level of tuition fees, and are considered likely to have impact on the committee’s final report.
YUSU President Tom Scott said the move could lead to raising of caps for all students. “If you start lifting the cap for some, then immediately university Vice-Chancellors will start crying for the cap to be lifted for all.” Scott called for a wider debate on the future of funding for the higher education sector as a whole.
The NUS has warned that if tuition fee increases go ahead, graduates could face final debts of £37,000.
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