UCL in record £300m funds drive

Universities must get over the idea that it is "not British" to ask for money, the provost of University College London said today.

Launching a ?300 million fundraising drive, Professor Malcolm Grant said Britain lagged far behind the US when it came to donating money for higher education.

The scheme - the biggest ever mounted by a UK college - will pay for scholarships, bursaries, a museum housing great works of art and pioneering new research facilities.

Raising cash from exstudents will be crucial, Professor Grant said, as top colleges try to become less dependent on the Government while meeting its ever higher targets for admitting more state pupils.