Oxbridge warned on poor students

Top universities such as Oxford and Cambridge will be barred from charging the maximum £9,000 tuition fee unless they accept "dramatically" more poorer students, Nick Clegg said.

The Deputy Prime Minister insisted institutions would not be allowed to "merrily" levy the highest charge without making major improvements in access.

The comments came as Mr Clegg prepared to publish guidance designed to ensure that hikes do not harm social mobility.

Any body wanting to charge more than £6,000 a year will be obliged to strike an agreement with the Office of Fair Access (OFFA), and participate in a new National Scholarship Programme (NSP) for youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds.

In a question and answer session with 20 students organised by the BBC in Westminster, Mr Clegg was given a rough ride over the coalition's decision to treble the maximum fee. During the general election campaign his Liberal Democrats had pledged to oppose any rise.

Joanne Casserly, 22, who is studying French and Politics at University College London (UCL), said she was facing £35,000 of debt due to the policy.

Pointing out that Mr Clegg was from a wealthy family and had attended exclusive Westminster School, she accused him of "punishing people for getting an education. You have never been in the kind of debt that you are condemning a whole generation of people to," Ms Casserly said.

Hesham Yafai, 21, who is studying English at King's College, London, said he had received free school meals because his family were not well off. Under the new system he would have been forced to choose between an elite university that charged £9,000 a year or a cheaper less prestigious institution, he said. "I would probably have gone to a £6,000 university which would create a two tier system," he added.

Mr Clegg stressed that no-one would have to repay the cost of their course until they were earning over £21,000, adding: "Some 60% of graduates will never have to pay off their loans in full, because the state will do that for them."

He insisted the system the coalition had hammered out was preferable to the Graduate Tax being proposed by Labour. "We have introduced in effect a time limited graduate tax," he added. Copyright © 2011 The Press Association. All rights reserved.