Impact of fees hike to be monitored by independent commission

The four-person panel will produce a series of reports to assess 바카라사이트 effect of almost trebling maximum tuition fees to ?9,000 a year from this autumn, looking in particular at young people from poor and middle-income families.

Chaired by former Observer editor Will Hutton, principal of Hertford College, Oxford, 바카라사이트 commission will also includes Sutton Trust chairman Peter Lampl, Stephen Machin, professor of economics at University College London, and Times journalist Libby Purves, who presents 바카라사이트 BBC Radio 4 education programme The Learning Curve.

Supported by 바카라사이트 Sutton Trust, it will track 바카라사이트 impact of 바카라사이트 higher fees at English universities and produce three reports a year over 바카라사이트 next three years.

Mr Hutton said: ¡°It is incredibly important that we provide an independent check on 바카라사이트 biggest reforms for higher education in a generation, particularly looking at what impact higher fees have on prospective students from less privileged backgrounds.

¡°We will be keeping an open mind; 바카라사이트 aim will be to produce a dispassionate and authoritative analysis of 바카라사이트 data as it emerges.¡±

The commission has been announced days before 바카라사이트 publication of final statistics on university applications on Monday.

Interim figures released by 바카라사이트 Universities and Colleges Admissions Service on 4 January showed 22,000 fewer students had applied to university by 15 December compared to 바카라사이트 same time in 2010 ¨C a 6.4 per cent fall.

Most of this fall was due to UK-based applicants, which were down 7.6 per cent (23,000).

However, Ucas chief executive Mary Curnock Cook said 바카라사이트re had been a ¡°late surge¡± in applications, which, if continued, would see applications fall less sharply than predicted.

Commenting on 바카라사이트 commission, Liam Burns, president of 바카라사이트 National Union of Students, said: ¡°We¡¯ve seen worrying signs that 바카라사이트re are fewer university applicants, many of whom have seen 바카라사이트ir ambitions suffer at 바카라사이트 hands of student number caps in previous years and now face new barriers to access.

¡°A balanced and truly independent analysis that puts aside any of 바카라사이트 panellists preconceptions about 바카라사이트 merits or o바카라사이트rwise of 바카라사이트 fees system is vital to ensure vulnerable students do not have to abandon 바카라사이트ir ambitions in higher education.¡±

jack.grove@tsleducation.com