Students would be able to rate their lecturers on a government-sponsored website designed to give university applicants better information about courses if the Conservatives were to form the next government.

David Willetts, the Shadow Universities Secretary, is working with Microsoft on a website that would give salary information for graduates from each degree course and record students’ views of their experience of higher education.

Mr Willetts will tell a CBI conference today that universities must improve teaching standards and be more open about what students can expect before there is any question of increasing tuition fees.

The proposed website, which has been under development for some months, would build on the National Student Survey, which asks final-year undergraduates to rate the quality of teaching on their course. The online format would allow individual students to give their views of teaching standards and the quality of feedback on their work.

Personal criticism of academics on unofficial rating websites has enraged lecturers’ unions. Mr Willetts said: “Some of the posts can be quite unpleasant and intrusive, but my view is that we need more places for this kind of information in a way that is properly monitored.”

The largest of the existing sites, ratemyprofessors.com, includes ratings for helpfulness, clarity and “hotness”. Comments on lecturers range from “Bit of a legend” to “This woman is a total jerk”.

Sally Hunt, the general secretary of the University and College Union, said: “All staff and students have the right to work free from intimidation, online or otherwise. Online gossip might seem harmless enough and even fun to some people. However, it can lead to serious online and offline bullying. If students have real concerns about their lecturers, they should go through the proper channels and try to resolve the issue.”

The proposed website would also provide more detailed information than universities currently publish on graduate employment rates and salary levels. At present, information is released only nationally for different subjects, or for whole universities.

Mr Willetts and Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, will be challenged at the conference to commit themselves to higher fees before a government review to be launched next month. Neither will discuss detailed fee levels, but the Conservatives are anxious to link any increase to value for money.

Mr Willetts said that there should be contracts between universities and their students, setting out teaching hours as well as students’ responsibilities. Some already have such arrangements, guaranteeing regular contact with lecturers and setting out the maximum size of teaching groups.

A Conservative government would not set targets for teaching hours, Mr Willetts said. But universities should spell out the nature of tuition on each course and guarantee regular access to individual guidance from academics, even if lectures were delivered in large groups or online.

Mr Willetts told The Times: “There has to be a genuine review of higher education funding without preconceptions, not fixing the results in advance. But we need to know how universities have spent the money from top-up fees and what more can be done to improve the quality of the student experience.”

• Higher tuition fees could be needed to ensure the future of universities, a government adviser admitted yesterday. John Holman, who advises ministers on science, suggested that it was difficult to see how quality could be maintained without them.

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