Top universities raise tuition fees

London: Top universities charging £9,000 (Dh53,567) in tuition fees next year will milk students for up to 50 per cent more than the actual cost of their courses, it has emerged.

Analysis of leading research-based universities shows the cost of some teaching courses is well below £6,000 per year, meaning students will be paying thousands extra every year. Those doing arts and humanities subjects like business studies, social studies and languages are being overcharged the most, as these are cheaper to run.

Students on these courses, which often require less facilities and teaching hours, will be subsidising more expensive programmes in the sciences. Their money will also go towards providing thousands of pounds in bursaries for poorer undergraduates.

David Willetts, the universities minister, claimed the variations would make universities more accountable to students because they would have to demonstrate value for money. He also said it provided further justification for the coalition's move to encourage some less prestigious universities to offer degrees at below £7,500 a year.

Perverse incentives

But Liam Burns, president of the National Union of Students, said: "This is yet more evidence that the chaotic funding system has created perverse incentives for universities to hike their prices above cost."

The figures, released by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, are based on data from 2009-10, and cover 47 subjects and seven groups of similar universities and colleges. Dentistry is the most expensive to teach, costing £15,881 a year in 10 leading universities.

In another group of 28 leading research universities also charging the maximum fees, the average cost of a social studies course was £5,586 a year while business studies cost £5,734.

The cheapest are agriculture-related courses, costing £4,607 a year at two middle-ranking universities, but it is not known what fees will be next year.

Monday it emerged The University of Edinburgh Court is to discuss what charge to levy for students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

If follows last month's decision at the University of Aberdeen to set the rate at £9,000 a year, with a fourth year free of charge.

Scottish Education Secretary Michael Russell said in June that universities will be able to increase fees following the raised cap south of the border.

More opt for private tutors

More parents are hiring private tutors for their children as fears grow about slipping standards in the classroom.

Almost a quarter of pupils aged 11 to 16 have received hired help to boost exam results, a sharp rise since 2005, a study has found.

In London, this increases to almost four in ten children — a trend which reflects the scramble for places at leading schools in the capital.

In some secondary schools it is thought as many as 65 per cent of pupils will benefit from a tutor at some point.

The findings suggest successful schools are climbing exam league tables thanks partly to the work of private tutors.

And with prices for such teaching sessions set at up to £60 (Dh357) an hour, children from affluent families are more likely to get a boost than those from a disadvantaged background. In the study, market research company Ipsos MORI polled 2,739 children between the ages of 11 and 16 in England and Welsh state schools and compared findings with a similar poll in 2005.

Unprecedented

It found the proportion sent to tutors had increased from 18 to 23 per cent.

It is believed the increase in tutoring among 16 to 18-year-olds was prompted by unprecedented competition for scarce university places this year, which is the final year before fees hike to £9,000.

Asian and black families are the most likely to hire private tutors, with 42 per cent of Asian children and 38 per cent of black children getting extra help, compared to just 20 per cent of white families.