Prompted by reports that up to 60,000 school-leavers may fail to gain a university place in Britain this year because of the rush to avoid £3,000 top-up fees, seven universities from Queensland to Canterbury have pledged financial assistance. Annual undergraduate fees usually range between £4,100 and £5,400. But with a lower cost of living, academics say that it is now academically and financially worthwhile for British students to study in the southern hemisphere.

“Tuition fees are the biggest change British universities have had in years,” Chris Madden, pro-Vice Chancellor of Griffith University in Queensland. “Before they were importers, but now with tuition fees, and given the exchange rates, the cost of studying here is not much more than staying at home.”

Griffith University, which has 30,000 students of which 7,000 are international, is offering a full scholarship for tuition fees, which is open to all except medical students.

Gemma Shaw, 21, from Ipswich has just returned from a six-month exchange in psychology at Griffith. She is about to enter her final year at Oxford Brookes and said that in spite of the cost of flights, living next to Surfers’ Paradise was cheaper than Oxford and there was a far stronger sense of service to students in Queensland.

She said: “I had an amazing apartment on the beach and we all paid £45 a week each, compared to my tiny room in Oxford for £80.” She travelled around the country over the holidays and worked as a waitress twice a week during the term to pay her way.

Last year about 1,400 British students chose to study in New Zealand and Australia. Many were attracted to courses, such as dentistry, veterinary science and physiotherapy, that are oversubscribed at home.

Exchange students pay no more than they would to their own university, but those studying abroad pay a year’s fees upfront in order to qualify for a place and a student visa.

Australia introduced university tuition fees in 1973, but now Macquarie University, Curtin University of Technology, Tasmania University, Newcastle University, James Cook and the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, are all offering scholarships to lure British students. Macquarie, Newcastle and Tasmania are all ranked in the Shanghai Jiao Tang top 500 of world universities.

Sarah McCulloch, 36, moved with her husband and three children to Tasmania to take a degree in education. The qualification is identical to that in England.

“International students come a week before term starts, so that they can show you around, take you on day trips and to barbecues, so that no one feels left out,” she said. “They make a real effort for you to get to know the Australian way of life here and it goes on all year.”

The academic year in the southern hemisphere starts in February and is divided into two semesters, the first running until late June and the second from late July until November.

Each scholarship is based on academic merit and applications must be made by late October. For help, students should consult the Study Options website (www.studyoptions.com), a free advice service.

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