The Surrey Factor

Just in case George Osborne does it in his Budget next week, I’ll say it here so that I can say I said it. (If he doesn’t, no one will remember.) The news that Surrey University has decided that it, too, is “exceptional” and will therefore charge the maximum £9,000-a-year tuition fee, has made me wonder if the Chancellor might announce a lower maximum on Wednesday.

The £9,000 fees has become a huge political problem for the Coalition and if most universities decide they will charge it, all the sums on which the forecasts are based will be thrown out. In the short term, it will mean paying out more money. So, if the Government thinks the vast majority of universities could operate on the basis of £6,000 fees, the simplest solution might be to bring the maximum down to, say £7,500, and expect every university to charge it. Possibly with watered-down social access conditions attached.

It would be another U-turn; many of the universities, who are already planning for next year’s intake, would be annoyed. But the politics of it look pretty irresistible.

Watch this space (or not, depending on what happens).

Photograph: Getty

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