Oxford fee rebels face expulsion for withholding payments

Fourteen Oxford university students who are withholding tuition fees face being banned from university premises today if they do not pay ?1,000 each by lunch-time.

Access to libraries and computers will be blocked in the start of a process which could end in expulsion.

The students, all freshers, are protesting against the payments introduced last year, claiming poorer students will be deterred from gaining higher education. Kate Atkinson, aged 18, a former deputy head girl at Roedean, who is studying politics, philosophy and economics, said last night she had ignored the final demand to pay. "I'll just walk up and see if they allow me in."

David Holmes, the university registrar, wrote to the 14 students over Christmas warning that he would be forced to block their access to facilities.

A university spokeswoman said she hoped it would not lead to expulsions. "We are obliged to collect this money. We have to do it."

The 14 students have placed their tuition money into a communal bank account. Eleven are from Somerville College, one is from St Hilda's, and two are from Balliol. They have the backing of other students, said Josh Bell, president of Oxford Student Union.

The National Union of Students launched a campaign against tuition fees last October. The fees are means-tested so students from poorer families should pay nothing.