英伦广角 2011-02-13 穷学生挑战名校高学费（在线收听）

Cambridge University has inspired some incredible careers with its huge list of famous students. Just streets away, Sixth Form pupils of Hills Rd College are feeling so certain about their future.

"It's critical that this government goes ahead and slashes the education budget so..."

The prospect of rising fees is taking a big hit on their plans and potentially costing them a place to university in 2012.

"I’m definitely considering going abroad because it’s not just a lot cheaper, especially post-graduate."

"I know a lot of students who now say maybe I need to go to apprenticeship or something because it’s just not practical or even affordable to get to university any more."

Today’s letter from Nick Clegg to the Office for Fair Access should give better support for poor students. It will mean that universities have to explain their decision to increase fees above ￡6,000 a year. They also have to outline how they plan to help the less well-off and their targets would be monitored every year.

Cambridge University has already come out and said they planned to charge ￡9,000 a year for every single one of their courses. It still gets to be approved by the university’s council. But it seems it won’t just be the traditional academic universities who will be aiming for those extra high prices.

Because just across the city is the Anglia Ruskin University, formerly a polytechnic. Even here, they say it’s inevitable that students are going to paying around ￡8,000 a year in fees. Studying in Cambridge already cost these students around ￡24,000 in fees and maintenance allowance, even more would put them off.

"Budgets need to be going up not down, they need to be given to wider section of students who are suffering financial hardship, they need to be doing more target of access in more areas are in a greater debts than have before."

"I think if universities are gonna be, as automatically trying to raise to the top in terms of charging  ￡9,000 and charging the maximum fees, then there needs to be much more pressure put on them by government and also much more monitoring of what they are doing."

The higher fees aren’t set to kick in until 2012, but already the National Union of Students is warning that most universities will go for that maximum ￡9,000 a year, a decision that could stay many off the path to higher education.

Rhiannon Mills Sky News in Cambridge.