Average university tuition fee set to rise to more than £8,500 a year

The figures, released as part of access programmes agreed between the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) and universities, reveal that students starting university in 2013 will pay an average fee of £8,507, compared to the £8,385 students starting this autumn (2012) will pay.
 
UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'When pushing higher fees through Parliament ministers promised that fees above £6,000 would be the exception rather than rule. Today's figures confirm our more accurate prediction that fees closer to the maximum of £9,000 a year would in fact be the norm.
 
'There's little pleasure in being right, especially as we saw a drop in student applications of almost 10% this year following the massive hike in fees. Decisions about what and where to study at university should be made based on an individual's academic ability, not how much a course costs.'
 
For a full copy of universities' access agreements, agreed with OFFA, contact the OFFA press office at press@offa.org.uk