Education: Colleges still facing cuts

Government advisers on higher education yesterday promised support for the special character of Oxford and Cambridge universities but left open the way for cuts in funding.

The board of the Higher Education Funding Council met to consider a request from the Government for advice on whether they should retain college fees worth pounds 35m a year.

The fee money is paid on top of the general university grant to help fund tutors and libraries in individual colleges.

Sir Ron Dearing's review of higher education in the summer proposed a review of college fees. Ministers are known to be unhappy with the idea that Oxbridge should have more privileges than universities with more poorer students.

Funding Council members are keeping their advice to ministers confidential but a statement after the meeting said that they had "considered a number of options from maintaining the present system to replacing college fee income with grant to the universities".

If the Government chose an option which led to a cut in funding for the two universities, the council would "want to avoid damage to the quality of college teaching and research".

The council would not elaborate on the statement last night.

The council announced that it wants to introduce a new premium for high quality teaching which would benefit Oxbridge and other universities.