Student choices: Over 21s speak out

At Manchester Metropolitan University we spoke to a number of students, typical of the many thousands throughout the rest of the country, who are unsure of what is happening about fees, grants and loans.

l Jackie Ford, 35, joined MMU's social work course last September after spending years trying to get secondment from her job as care manager: "I'm on my own. I have a mortgage. I just about started to get my life sorted out to take this leap into education when they started to talk about fees. I had to rush my application and still don't know what's happening about grants. It is very unsettling. I've been trying to encourage my friends to come on the course next year but they are very unsure because they don't know what to expect about fees and grants."

l Merla George, 43, has joined Manchester Met's applied social studies course after successfully passing an access course: "I think people need to be told the facts about fees and how to cope financially. This course works really well, because there's such a good mix of experienced people from different backgrounds. There's a real risk my friends from the access course won't be coming next year - and all because of the myth built up about fees."

l Sue Harris, 27, a social work student (pictured reading the Government's advice leaflet): "It's no good David Blunkett saying that all the schools know about the fees. How are adults supposed to find out that the stories they have heard and read about fees are misleading? Unless one is already at a college, the information available, is totally inadequate. How can the Secretary of State expect more people to come into higher education if they live in fear of the fees?"

John Izbicki