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The report is based on a research carried out by the government spending watchdog, Public Accounts Select Committee.
According to the report, whether the fees, which are treble the current maximum, will deter students from applying to study for degrees, are not clear.
But, the report warns, there is a “substantial funding gap” for English universities which may lead to cuts in higher education or need more taxpayers’ cash as the Office for Fair Access bids to encourage more students from poor backgrounds to apply for courses.
“All the indications are that significantly more institutions will charge significantly higher fees than was anticipated by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills,” says the report.
“The Office for Fair Access has yet to agree the measures universities will adopt to widen participation where the proposed fees are above the £۶,۰۰۰ level.
“However, it is likely that a significant funding gap of hundreds of millions of pounds for the taxpayer will occur. Unless further resources are secured by the Department, this could result in further cuts being made to the Higher Education budget,” it added.
The government approved a law last year allowing universities to charge maximum £۹,۰۰۰ tuition fees.
The adoption of the law triggered a series of nationwide protests, which called into question the government’s slogans of supporting human rights and freedom of speech.
Dozens of student protesters were arrested and later received long-term prison sentences and human rights bodies obtained a good ground to reveal the true identity behind police forces who used the most inhumane techniques to quell the violence they themselves had ignited.
Committee chairman, Labour MP Margaret Hodge, also said universities’ regulatory body, the Higher Education Funding Council for England, would need beefed-up powers once higher tuition fees are introduced and its role in awarding cash to institutions was cut back.
“Unprecedented change is about to take place in the higher education sector as it moves towards a system in which funding for teaching follows the student,” she said.
