Tag Archives: independent commission on fees

Stephen Tall

Why Lib Dems shouldn’t keep schtum about tuition fees

By Stephen Tall | Thu 14th August 2014 - 8:35 pm

tuition fees vote“University tuition fee rise has not deterred poorer students from applying”. That was the headline in The Guardian this week reporting new analysis by the Independent Commission on Fees chaired by Will Hutton:

The raising of tuition fees to £9,000 has not put off students from disadvantaged backgrounds from applying to university – although the gap in applications between those from wealthy and poor backgrounds remains wide, according to new analysis. …

The commission found that university application rates for 18-year-olds in England have continued to recover from their post-rise lows, with application rates for 2014 entry – including students who will receive their A-level results on Thursday – almost two percentage points higher than in 2010.

While students who are not eligible for free school meals – available for pupils from households earning less than £16,000 – remain more than twice as likely to go to university, the gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students has narrowed from 30.5% in 2010 to 29.8% in 2013.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , , , , and | 206 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Tim Rogers
    Much better from SirEd at PMQs. Topical question getting excellent coverage and sticking the boot in at the same time....
  • paul barker
    I just hope that we won't find ourselves in much the same place in a Year from now....
  • Rose Runswick
    @Mick while I, like many, was horrified at the motion passed at the Green Party Conference, I would like to note that they are still polling higher on average t...
  • Patricia Organ
    Layla!...
  • Alex Macfie
    Hopefully we remember the last time a successful Lib Dem leader was prematurely deposed with no plan for who should replace him. Charles Kennedy RIP....