'High quality' unis to increase tuition fees

But the universities minister has already announced that universities will be able to increase fees with inflation, above the £9,000 limit, if they can demonstrate high quality teaching.

And Labour's university spokesman Gordon Marsden said this link would allow fees to be increased for some institutions and create a "two-tier system".

"That could brand some universities as second class, and damage the life chances of students who go to them," he said.

I'm still p***ed off that, although I'm a UK passport holder and have lived there for several years, just because my parents came out to the middle east for their work, I have to pay 26k a year.

Why is that so unfair? If your parents have been working in the middle east, presumably they haven't been paying tax here. It's no different to someone from the middle east who then wants to study here. This is the logical conclusion of having a market-based education system rather than one which intrinsically values knowledge as a social good and promotes free, accessible education.

You guys hold the power. No one is putting a gun to your head making you go to uni. If you want to see a stop to a rise in fees unite and make a stand and refuse to pay it.

"With the increase of tuition fees, universties will have more places for students from poor backgrounds"
How will they afford the 12k a year anyway though?

Why is that so unfair? If your parents have been working in the middle east, presumably they haven't been paying tax here. It's no different to someone from the middle east who then wants to study here. This is the logical conclusion of having a market-based education system rather than one which intrinsically values knowledge as a social good and promotes free, accessible education.

You guys hold the power. No one is putting a gun to your head making you go to uni. If you want to see a stop to a rise in fees unite and make a stand and refuse to pay it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-34733096



Is this a return to a two tier system where the best education is a reserve for the wealthiest?

My opinion:

Increase to 9000: Bad. I mean, most universities don't even spend 9000 on each student's teaching so increasing it seems a bit excessive.

Is it going to make the best education a reserve for the wealthiest? By principle no. Obviously the fact that we have private schools blurs the lines between background/wealth and higher quality education but I can't imagine it will change anything more than what we have now, since the tuition fees and maintenance loan system are useful for those from more deprived backgrounds.

Is this a return to a two tier system? Maybe but honestly why not? Too many people go to university for the "uni life" experience with the knowledge that they will probably never get a good job and the money all comes from the taxpayer. I know some of my friends who are studying at not-so-reputable universities and honestly it's a joke. A two-tier system is good in that it might make people who are planning on going to a lower-ranked university purely because of the fact that they feel pressure to go to university rethink their choices and do something which suits them more.

Just to give some context with regards to what I believe in: Personally I would dramatically reduce the number of universities and transfer the focus on vocational training, making university only a place for those who are academic and intend on going into graduate jobs - and then make university free but also really hard to get into. (using an arbitary mark, probably in principle only for those with BBB+ at A level)

Makes no sense - BBB for Media, General studies, Sociology is very different to more harder subjects.