Patten call to scrap cap on fees for degrees

Oxford University wants to charge tuition fees of up to £20,000 a year in a move student leaders have slammed as "elitist".

Chris Patten, the university's chancellor, is demanding that the Government remove its present £3,000 cap on fees.

In a speech to mark the 25th anniversary of Green College, Lord Patten said charges should more accurately reflect the actual cost of courses.

He warned that while British universities were "still in the race" to be best in the world, "there is not much petrol left in the tank".

The fees cap, Lord Patten claimed, "makes a nonsense of what all students know from the moment they complete their university application forms - namely that universities and courses are different."

He added: "The present brave but limited policy of setting fees is going to produce some bizarre results."

But student leaders condemned Lord Patten's "elitist" views. Raising fees, they said, would further increase the educational divide between the "haves and have-nots".

Overseas students at Oxford already pay £8,000 a year for arts courses, £11,000 for science degrees and £20,000 for final year medical qualifications.