UP TO 40 leading universities will charge students £3,000 a year as soon as they are allowed to, vice-chancellors said yesterday.

Members of the Russell Group of 19 top universities are set to lead the dash for higher tuition fees from 2006, followed by around 20 other institutions.

Some vice-chancellors gave warning that fees would have to rise above the maximum of £3,000 proposed in a Government White Paper yesterday if they were to remain globally competitive in research.

The speed with which universities are preparing to impose higher charges will deepen worries among Labour MPs that it will open up a wealth divide in higher education. They fear that poorer students will be deterred from applying to the best universities and be left to choose between institutions offering cut-price degree courses.

Michael Sterling, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Birmingham, said that he expected to move to the maximum fee straight away. “I can’t see any reason not to do it from 2006 because the funding situation is pretty desperate now. I think the Russell Group is pretty much unanimous on this,” he said.

Sir Colin Campbell, of Nottingham University, said: “I think a large group of universities will go to £3,000 straight away, probably the Russell Group and 20 others. The money we are talking about for universities under this regime is infinitesimally small compared to what’s available in North American universities. I think higher fees will be necessary still.”

Birmingham and Nottingham are members of the Russell Group, along with Cambridge, Oxford, Sheffield, Imperial College London, University College London, Warwick, Leeds, the London School of Economics, Liverpool, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle, Southampton, King’s College London and Manchester.

The group meets in London today to discuss its response to the White Paper published by Charles Clarke, the Education Secretary.

Other members of the group told The Times that they would introduce higher fees, including Bristol, Warwick, Imperial, King’s College, Leeds and Manchester.

A spokesman for Oxford said: “We have made it clear for some time that the funding Oxford currently receives to teach each undergraduate falls over £2,500 short per year of the true costs of this education. So it makes obvious sense for Oxford to give very serious consideration to introducing increased fees.”

The immediate introduction of higher charges emerged as Tony Blair begins a campaign to sell top-up fees to the Labour Party. Senior ministers are braced for one of Labour’s biggest backbench rebellions when the legislation is introduced in the next session of Parliament.

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