£9k uni fees under fire

Maxwell Kusi Obodum • Published 3 Apr 2011 08:00 1 Comment

STUDENT leaders fear controversial plans by Reading University to charge top rate fees will price out students from poorer backgrounds.

Reading University Student's Union (RUSU) is lobbying to protect arrangements for students from lower income families. This week the university revealed that it wants to join Oxford and Cambridge in charging the maximum tuition fees allowed - £9,000 a year - from September 2012.

The proposal, which will only apply to new students from 2012, is subject to approval by the Office For Fair Access and under the university's Access Agreement.

RUSU says the charges are too high and the university is bracketing itself with others much higher in the league tables.

It wants the university to maintain outreach events, such as the Aim Higher mentoring and open day scheme reaching out to poorer students - for which funding is being withdrawn in July.

RUSU President Jess Lazarczyk said: "We believe a person's right to an education should depend on their potential and aspiration, not their ability to pay for it."

She said the university will be expected to use the best parts of the Aim Higher scheme in a new Access Agreement to ensure students from poorer backgrounds are not priced out of higher education.

But she added: "The university must live up to its wider responsibilities to prospective students while maintaining and developing quality of teaching for current students."

University spokesman James Barr stressed it wants students from all backgrounds and financial means, and said: "We are committed to ensuring that ability and potential are the only criteria for entry to the university and we will be developing a comprehensive package of financial support and outreach activity to ensure we continue to meet these objectives."

Students will still be entitled to tuition fee loans which will be paid back after graduation, once they are earning more than £21,000. See www.reading.ac.uk/study

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This article appeared in Reading Chronicle 31 Mar 11

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