UCU warns unpopular fee rise will restrict universities' talent pools

Responding to a Universities UK report 'Changing Landscapes: future scenarios for variable tuition fees', the union said it welcomed any opportunity to debate the future direction of university funding, but warned that any rise in tuition fees would be incredibly unpopular with the general public and damage universities' chances of attracting the best students onto the courses that most suited their individual talents.

UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'A recent YouGov poll revealed that, as well as opposing any increase in fees, the majority of people in Britain back a university funding system that is at no cost to the student or their family.

'UCU believes we need a fair system where every potential student has the opportunity to maximise their potential, irrespective of how much their parents may be willing to pay or what they can actually afford themselves. Increasing fees or the other financial barriers that so many students and parents come up against when considering university is certainly not the way to deliver a world-class university system.'

• For more information on the YouGov poll on British attitudes to university funding: Tuition fee rise risks haemorrhaging of votes says poll