Oxford college suggests 'super-fee' for the rich

LESLEY GERARD

Rich Oxford students should pay a "super-fee" towards their education, subsidising scholarships for the less well-off. The move could help save the university from becoming a bastion for only the rich and privileged, according to Robert Stevens, Master of Pembroke College.

His call comes after Jane Hands, treasurer of Somerville, Baroness Thatcher's college,wrote to parents, saying state provision was no longer enough for an undergraduate's cost. "The college would like to draw your attention to the finances needed for an undergraduate in Oxford ... government assistance, whether in the form of a grant or a loan, no longer provides sufficient funds to support an undergraduate in Oxford."

Miss Hands, who retires soon, is said to have recommended that parents should take out an insurance policy when a child is aged two and assume responsibility for education rather than pushing it on to the state.

Her comments have been interpreted as an indication that Oxford cannot afford to cater for poor state-school students and is being forced to turn back to its Brideshead image. Last month Dr Stevens threatened to take legal action against Pembroke students when they refused to pay rent increases.

He also suggested they could reduce college charges by doubling up in bunk beds and cleaning their own rooms. Yesterday he said: "Oxford should not be a place purely for the wealthy and middle-classes. To keep the university open to all, one solution would be to make the rich pay a sufficiently large fee - so that there are better programmes of scholarships and hardship funds available to those surviving on grants alone."

Miss Hands' comments were condemned by Eric Bennett, bursar of St Anne's College, which takes more than 50 per cent of its intake from state schools. "Telling parents to take out insurance policies is stupid. What does a parent do if they have three or four children - how do you know if they are going to be bright enough for university - or if they will even want to go?"

He said Miss Hands may have been voicing a view held by some other colleges, particularly those with a strong public-school bias. "My ... opinion is that they do not have a deliberate conscious desire to get rid of 'the plebs' but it is an easy option for some people.''

Oxford has tried to shed its "blazers and Pimms" image but public-school undergraduates still outnumber the state sector by 49 per cent to 43 per cent, with 8 per cent from abroad.

It costs the state pounds 4,900 a year to educate the average Oxbridge student; the national average is pounds 2,800.