The Office of Fair Access (Offa) has predicted that the university tuition fees in England will rise slightly again next year to support poorer students.

The current average stands at £8414 a year which is expected to rise to £8507 with universities planning to spend £611 million to help support poorer student of the country. However, with rising competition, some universities could even lower the fees to attract students. The maximum permissible increase for this year is £9000 per year.

Offa’s director, Sir Martin Harris, said, “It may be that some universities and colleges may have to revisit the relatively high fees that they currently feel able to charge.” The second increase in two years indicates that the upward trend is continuing as predicted by most professors.

The rising fees could become a barrier for poorer students who wish to pursue higher education in the universities. More than 122 universities will increase the tuition fees for almost all the courses offered and are expected to reach closer to the average cost of £8507 per year. The “basic fee” at £6000 per year will change with time as most universities plan to charge above the basic fees.

Sally Hunt, general secretary of the UCU lecturers’ union said: “When pushing higher fees through Parliament ministers promised that fees above £6,000 would be the exception rather than rule. Today’s figures confirm our more accurate prediction that fees closer to the maximum of £9,000 a year would in fact be the norm.”

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