Public consultation on tuition fees begins

Employment and Learning Minister Danny Kennedy said he would not support any introduction of upfront fees or the fee levels of between £6,000 to £9,000 introduced in England.

He told the Assembly that he had been handed five options, ranging from the abolition of fees to charging university students up to £9,000 each year, thereby matching levels in England.

He said new ways of financing higher education were needed and he appealed for parties to hold a mature debate on the controversial issue.

The UUP minister urged the Assembly to look for a "made in Northern Ireland" model which, he says, would offer an equitable, fair and sustainable approach to funding for Northern Ireland's higher education system.

"I want to ensure that we develop a 'made in Northern Ireland' model, which maintains access to higher education for those from socially disadvantaged backgrounds; promotes excellence in our higher education institutions ensuring they remain internationally competitive; and is affordable to the public purse, as well as to the students and graduates," he said.

"It is because I am committed to the principle that access to university should be on the basis of ability to learn, not ability to pay, that I believe we in Northern Ireland should have a generous student support package, combining maintenance grants and loans and the repayment arrangements, " he said.

"Students do not need to pay upfront to participate in Higher Education and I intend to ensure that this continues. Payment can be deferred through a tuition fee loan, which is only repayable after they leave higher education, and are earning above a certain income.

"Even then, the repayment is not based on the amount they owe; it is based on the amount they earn."

The consultation document includes the preferred plan to raise fees, currently capped at £3,290, to between £5,000 and £5,750, while also making grant aid available to greater numbers of students.

Mr Kennedy said that he wanted "to ensure that no-one is deterred from entering higher education given all the benefits that it can bring, both for the individual and society as a whole."