Higher education becoming a luxury older students can't afford

The report flagged up that the number of people starting part-time higher education courses has dropped 40 per cent since 2010 and there has been a 7.1 per cent fall in mature entrants (those aged 20 and older, who make up more than half of undergraduates) between the 2011-12 and 2012-13 academic years.

UCU President, Simon Renton, said: 'OFFA is right to sound the alarm about the dramatic falls in part-time and mature students but we fear it is wrong in laying the blame at poor marketing of the new student finance system.

'The reality is we are talking about older students who are far more likely to have existing responsibilities such as families and mortgages and so are more averse to building up large amounts of student debt. Put simply, since the rise in tuition fees, higher education has become a luxury many older students can't afford.'