Clarke backs top-up fees

Top-up fees were defended today by Education Secretary Charles Clarke as the "fairest" way of funding university courses.

Faced with a tide of criticism over the Government's proposals, Mr Clarke said the taxpayer would continue to pay "the lion's share" of higher education costs.

"But I believe that it is reasonable and fair to ask graduates to pay a proportion of the costs of the university education from which they benefit for the rest of their life."

Mr Clarke told Labour's annual conference that "hard choices" had to be made and he wanted to give priority to under-five provision.

University students currently benefited on average to the tune of £5,300 a year from general taxation, compared to just £1,800 spent on the education and care of every three-year-old.

Mr Clarke said students from poorer families would get either a grant or remission of fees and ministers were discussing with universities the possibility of extra help to pay even the highest fees.

"Universities which want to charge higher fees will have to prove that their courses really are equally open to applications from anyone in this country. That's fairer.

"No longer will potential students have to find £1,100 a year before they even set foot on a university campus. That's fairer.

"Middle class parents who now have to find that money will no longer have to do so. They'll be able to choose. The money will be paid afterwards by the graduate and not upfront. That's fairer."

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