The Cambridge University Council discussed possible national changes to university fee arrangements at its meeting on Monday 11 November 2002. The Council considered a paper by Paul Lewis, President of Cambridge University Students Union (CUSU), who is an elected student member of the Council.

He proposed that a statement should be issued and following is the agreed statement:

"Cambridge University wants to remain a centre of academic excellence. To do so it needs both sufficient funding and the ability to attract the most able students regardless of their financial or social background. The University and the Colleges are committed to improving access to Cambridge.

"The University has no plans to introduce ‘top-up’ fees.

"The Council believe that the present system of higher education funding is not sustainable. However, it is not clear to the Council that new fee arrangements would not damage access: it is for the Government to show that access would not be adversely affected if it decided that fee arrangements were to be changed.

"The University’s future is dependent on decisions to be made by the Government in the forthcoming months. The Council hope that the Higher Education Review will rigorously explore and consider all the available funding options, and take into account the impact of higher fees, and other measures, on access to Cambridge and other UK universities."


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