Uni chief warns of higher education tuition fee 'hierarchy'

There is a risk of creating a "hierarchy" in higher education with richer students choosing the most expensive courses, the vice-chancellor of Cardiff Metropolitan University has warned.

Cara Aitchison's warning followed Prime Minister Theresa May's plans for a review of post-18 education in England.

The details emerged after a UK minister called for more variety in fee prices.

Prof Aitchison said the review would have "repercussions" in Wales.

UK government education secretary Damian Hinds suggested that fees should reflect a degree's value "to our society as a whole".

It prompted concerns about science degrees becoming more expensive than those for arts and humanities.

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Prof Aitchinson said: "The difficulties we get into there is that we then create a hierarchy whereby students from richer backgrounds will choose the more expensive subjects.

"Do we really want to live in a nation where all of our doctors were privately educated at school and then went to only a small number of universities?

"I think we want to create professions where the professionals represent the communities they serve.

"So I think it will be very difficult to widen social mobility if we create the differential price markets."

This is how the sliding scale of means-tested support for Welsh students living away from home will work from 2018-19

From September, Welsh students will be able to apply for a means-tested grant of up to £9,000 to help with living costs, or £10,000 in London.

It is replacing non-means tested grants that covered £4,954 of a student's tuition fees.

Prof Aitchison said the new system was "genuinely progressive" but there were concerns about "leakage" of funding when Welsh students go to university in England.

Kirsty Williams, Welsh Education Secretary, said that from September, students from Wales would "benefit from the most generous student support system in the UK".

Amanda Wilkinson, director of Universities Wales, said: "Whilst education is devolved, there are UK-wide implications for the decisions made by the UK government in relation to higher education in England.

"We would expect the outcome of this review to be informed by the experiences of Wales and take into consideration the impact that the review's recommendations would have on universities across the whole of the UK."

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