Responding to evidence from the OECD in its Education at a Glance report today that England’s university fees are now the highest in the world, Sir Peter Lampl, chairman of the Sutton Trust said today.

“This important international evidence shows that English students pay more for university than their counterparts elsewhere. While this has not yet reduced the numbers of poorer young students, it has seen a big fall in numbers of mature part-time students, an important group of access students too often forgotten.

“These figures should cause the government to avoid steps that could hamper access, including replacing grants for poorer students with loans leaving them more indebted than richer students, cutting widening participation funding, or reducing the independence of the access regulator.”