Another senior figure at the University of Oxford has backed the prospect of truly variable fees ¨C a move that could lead to some institutions charging significantly more than the current ?9,000 maximum.

Andrew Hamilton, the Oxford vice-chancellor, recently used his annual oration to urge a future government to allow ¡°significantly different¡± amounts to be charged by different universities.

At a Sutton Trust event in London on 13 November, Sally Mapstone, pro vice-chancellor for education at Oxford, was asked whether the university would want to see a system of truly variable fees.

¡°We would be very interested in seeing the potential for a move to variable fees,¡± she told the event.

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¡°But I think there are a couple of things that go with that. One is that price should never be an impediment to talent. They have got to be able to get in.

¡°The other is that when you look at the repayment mechanism, you¡¯re looking very hard at income-contingent measures.¡±

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On measures to improve access and encourage poor students to apply, Les Ebdon, director of fair access, had told the event: ¡°The evidence we have [at the Office for Fair Access] is that [scholarships and bursaries] don¡¯t make a difference to people¡¯s decisions.¡±

However, Dr Mapstone recalled a visit ¡°about a year ago¡± by Professor Ebdon to Oxford where students discussed bursaries with him.

¡°Our students said that they felt very strongly ¨C particularly those who came from what you might call disadvantaged backgrounds ¨C that bursaries actually made a really big difference,¡± she said.

She added that bursaries were key in ¡°levelling up the differences between certain social groups¡±.

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Sir Michael Barber, chief education adviser to Pearson and a member of the 2010 Browne Review, told the event that to reduce the fee cap and reintroduce direct public funding would be ¡°a big waste of money¡±.

¡°The fee cap should probably be raised, because inflation is occurring in costs,¡± he added.

Sir Michael suggested that there should be thinking about ¡°how you could get government capital money building an endowment fund¡­or a number of endowment funds that would get you towards a proper system of needs-blind admission¡±.

He suggested that funds received by the government from future privatisations could be used for this purpose.

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john.morgan@tsleducation.com