Regional variations in tuition fees across the United Kingdom will have “unforeseen consequences”, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Simon Hughes has warned.
In his report on access to education, Hughes said a structure was needed to handle a universities system where students from elsewhere in the UK have to pay fees at Scottish universities, and Welsh students studying in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their fees subsided.
The deputy Lib Dem leader also said it was right to criticise “prestigious universities” for not placing enough emphasis on access for poorer students.
In his report for the government Hughes recommended a series of measures to help less advantaged pupils get to university including
1.Careers advice for primary school students age 10 or 11
2.Guaranteed careers advice in school
3.Financial training for students
4.Closer links between universities and schools
5.University scholarships to be allocated directly to state schools
Commenting on the report, Hughes said: “The message I have heard from young people around the country is clear; we need better careers advice, starting early, and with parents as well as students given better information about going to university.”
But student group the NUS claimed the report was “toothless”, with recommendations that would take years to implement and would be hard to enforce.
NUS President Liam Burns said: “This is a warm-worded but toothless report which does little to mask the chaos of the government’s education policy, that has seen fees tripled and vital support such as EMA and AimHigher scrapped in the past year."
He added: "Some of the uncontroversial and simple recommendations in the Hughes Report on information and careers advice will take many years to have a real impact.
"The lack of clear recommendations on access targets raises serious questions about whether more challenging aims can be enforced. If access advocacy is to have real teeth it must be accompanied by real powers."