Fees to rise with inflation?

University tuition fees in England should rise in line with inflation, a university leader has urged.

Sir Christopher Snowden, vice-chancellor of the University of Surrey and president of Universities UK, has warned that the current£9,000 limit on annual tuition fees is “not sustainable”.

“[F]ees can’t remain frozen for ever”, he warned. Sir Christopher’s comments follow a call from the vice-chancellor of Oxford University Andrew Hamilton for fees to be “more closely related to the true cost”.

Professor Hamilton claimed that it costs £16,000 a year to educate a student at Oxford.

Sir Christopher stated that Russell Group universities are seeing shortfalls in teaching income as the fixed tuition rate of £9,000 a year limits the ability to improve standards.

He said: “On aggregate the £9,000 was perhaps a reasonable starting point, but it really needs to have a sensible indexing linked to it.”

Dr Wendy Piatt, director general of the Russell Group, also warned: “Our leading institutions cannot continue to be internationally competitive, provide a first-rate teaching experience and offer generous support to disadvantaged students without access to increased funding.”

Sir Christopher, however, stated that he was not an advocate of a major jump in fees: “I don’t think that £16,000 is a likely scenario in the near future.”

He also said that the £9,000 maximum fees paid by students would be worth only around £8,250 by 2016 when inflation was taken into consideration.

The National Union of Students (NUS) said that last year’s trebling in fees had already far outpaced rising costs.

Lauren Clarke, a Literature postgraduate, described the idea to raise tuition fees with inflation as “a completely disgusting suggestion”.

First-year Classical Civilisation student Conor O’Shea added: “The loan repayment structure means that a small increase won’t financially impact us.

“However, it may allow universities to provide better services and facilities.”

Warwick has already agreed to further fee increases for international, exchange and postgraduate students.