By Richard Johnstone | 11 November 2011
The government may need to delay its plans to raise the cap on university tuition fees if it cannot provide students with comprehensive information on the cost of courses, MPs have warned.In its report on higher education reform, the Commons business, innovation and skills committee raised concerns that details such as the level of early repayment penalties on student loans were still being consulted on with less than a year to go until the higher fee regime begins
Without clarity on the whole package, the MPs warned yesterday that the Key Information Sets that will provide students with information on the cost of undergraduate courses cannot be finalised.
They called on ministers not to increase fees to £9,000 in England ‘without key aspects of the wider reform package in place’.
The report said: ‘We urge the government to ensure that its delivery programme has sufficient flexibility to accommodate a later implementation to deliver its reforms. To do so would be seen as a strength both for government and for the sector it seeks to reform.’
Committee chair Adrian Bailey added: ‘The government will have to work overtime to deliver these reforms so that next years' intake of students have the information and support they were promised in exchange for their increased contributions to their education.’
Responding to the report, universities minister David Willetts said that the government’s reforms would ensure that ‘student choice [is] at the heart of our higher education system’.
He added: ‘No student should be put off from going to university because they don’t know the facts about our student finance reforms. We have a team of recent graduates touring schools and colleges across the country to help students and parents understand the changes to student finance.’
However, Universities UK said it shared the committee’s worries.
Chief executive Nicola Dandridge said she agreed ‘with the committee’s concerns about the speed of the government’s reforms’.
She added: ‘Away from the political arguments, our priority now is making sure that that students, and the wider public, understand how the new system works and what the financial arrangements will mean to them if they decide to go to university.’
