IMPACT OF TUITION FEES ON UNIVERSITY ADMISSIONS

That this House notes the research undertaken by the Sutton Trust on the impact of tuition fees on admissions into higher education; is deeply concerned, but not surprised, that this report shows that the current system of tuition and top-up fees has discouraged many pupils from poorer backgrounds from applying to university as a result of anxieties about debt; furthermore believes that the current system inherently favours pupils from more affluent backgrounds; fears this will lead to higher education increasingly becoming the preserve of the better off; and believes that the Government must now reconsider its policy on student finance, tuition fees and top-up fees before a generation of potential students from less well off backgrounds are discouraged from going into higher education.