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21.10.11

28 universities could lower fees

Tuition fees could be lowered at up to 28 universities from next year, according to the Office for Fair Access (Offa). Changes to Government policy in July have led these universities to express an interest in cutting fees to £7,500, with eight already taking steps to do so.

The universities have until November 4 to submit new plans for their fees, which will then be confirmed by the end of that month.

Universities set their fees in April, with many choosing to charge the maximum fee of £9,000 per year. In Scotland, non-Scottish students’ fees also rose to this maximum level in many cases.

But the Government had based funding predictions for education on most universities charging an average of £7,500.

In July, further policy changes were announced, meaning that universities which charge fees of less than £7,500 could bid for a group of 20,000 student places which have been taken back from across the university system.

Toni Pearce, vice president of the National Union of Students, said: “The Government's incoherent changes to higher education funding continue to wreak havoc and chaos on students and universities as Ministers realise that they failed to do their sums properly.

“Tens of thousands of applicants now face an anxious wait at an already stressful time.

“Students looking to assess and compare what support will be available to them will be facing weeks of uncertainty and many will find that vital bursaries have been replaced with tokenistic fee waivers.”

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