6th June 2013 9:00
By Blue Tutors
The education charity the Sutton Trust has urged the government to allow students from poor backgrounds to pay less in university tuition fees. The charity has said that university tuition fees should be means-tested in order to ensure that disadvantaged students are not prohibited from applying to university. Their comments come after the completion of their research into the applications process, which showed that that 65% of teenagers were very concerned by the cost of university. 23% of students polled said that the cost was the deciding factor as to whether they felt able to go to university.
85% of students polled by the Sutton Trust said that they wanted to go to university, and believed it would help them “do well and get on in life”. However, the latest data on university applications shows that applications have fallen since the rise in tuition fees which came into effect in 2012, indicating that the cost of university is prohibitive.
The government has responded to say that the main issue for young people and their parents is lack of information on university fees, and pledged to make the process more transparent. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills emphasised that no fees needed to be paid up-front, and that students would be able to pay back the loans once they were in well-paying graduate jobs. Under the new scheme, students will graduate with debts of over £40,000, which means many will still be paying this off by the time they near retirement age. The Sutton Trust maintains that student concerns are legitimate, and has urged the government to consider means-testing as a way to ensure that the poorest students are not excluded.