As the deadline for Universities to submit their proposed fees for 2012 closed, it emerged that almost three quarters of Universities in England want to charge £9,000 a year for some or all of their courses. Labour leader Ed Miliband responded, warning that these higher than expected tuition fees could mean cutting up to 36,000 university places in England. Alongside these claims it has been suggested that some Universities are responding to these fears by planning to increase international student numbers to offset the cuts.

The deadline for University fee submissions to the Office for Fair Access closed yesterday (19 April 2011) and, although the full picture will not be known publicly until July - when fees are confirmed and approved for each university - it is clear that the £9,000 tuition fee will be far from ‘exceptional’. It has emerged that 46 out of 70 English universities would demand the top fees for most of their courses. So far, all of the elite Russell Group of universities has revealed that they intend to charge £9,000.

Using figures from the House of Commons Library, Ed Miliband suggested that, if average fees were £8,500, the funding shortfall would reach £450 million in 2014-15.  It was suggested by Labour that Ministers would then have to cut places or find savings elsewhere.  In a report by the THES, it appears that some English universities are responding to these fears by planning to increase international student numbers by up to 100 per cent in four years. 

UK and EU student fees and numbers of places are controlled by the government but fees and places for non-EU students are not subject to the same limits. It was revealed that Durham University plans for a 97% increase in non-EU undergraduates between now and 2014-15, and the University of Exeter is looking for a 73% rise in the same period.

The highest international fee this year was at Imperial College London, where some overseas undergraduates faced annual charges of up to £26,250. Speaking to the THES, Les Ebdon, chair of the Million+ group of new universities, said, "Every (institution's) strategic plan includes losses of money on home students and a massive increase in international students ... If you prevent growth in one direction, it bursts out in another. There is a clear cause and effect.”

The Office for Fair Access will confirm the fees that it has approved for each university in July. A White Paper setting out how higher education will be reformed in England is expected in the summer.