Weekly graduate payments 'will halve', says Clarke

Weekly payments by graduates will halve under the government's tuition fees scheme, Charles Clarke, the education secretary, said today as he welcomed the news that the higher education bill has been given Royal Assent.

While Mr Clarke repeated the benefits of the package for students and for graduates when it is brought in from 2006, the National Union of Students (NUS) expressed dismay and threatened to campaign at the next election against MPs who voted for the bill.

Kat Fletcher, NUS president, warned: "The MPs who gave their word that they would vote against top-up fees but reneged on that promise, will be fighting for their seats at the next election."

The bill paving the way for tuition fees of ?3,000 a year squeaked through the Commons by five votes in the closest vote the Blair government has faced.

Mr Clarke pointed out that upfront fees will be abolished and parents would not have to pay fees at any time. Graduates would only pay once they are earning and at a level linked to their earnings, with the starting point rising from the current level of ?10,000 to ?15,000. A graduate earning ?20,000 will pay just ?8.65 per week no matter what they owe, against ?17.31 per week under the current scheme.

To win over reluctant Labour backbenchers the government has promised a new upfront maintenance grant of up to ?2700 a year, targeted at lower income households, from which about half of all full-time students are expected to benefit in full or in part. An Office for Fair Access (Offa) to vet universities' recruitment policies probably helped the government in the Commons, although it was unpopular in the Lords.

Mr Clarke also promised an independent commission to examine the impact of variable fees in the first three years of operation - the concession that apparently swayed Nick Brown, the influential former minister, on the day of the crucial vote. There will also be a "gateways to the professions" report looking at how the public sector and the professions can sustain and improve recruitment opportunities for graduates.

The education secretary said today the higher education act would help to maintain the UK's world class university education, while at the same time protecting access for students from poor backgrounds.

"This act marks a landmark in higher education. It gives universities an additional and much needed source of independent funding but in the fairest way possible. Added to the ?10bn that the government will invest in higher education in 2005-6, it will provide universities with the funding they need to improve laboratories and lecture theatres, student accommodation and lecturers' salaries.

"Everyone with potential should be given the opportunity and encouraged to aim higher and go to university. Higher Education will now be free at the point of entrance and fair at the point of repayment, a fair and affordable option for students from all backgrounds," he added.

But NUS president Kat Fletcher said it was a tragic day for the future of education in the UK. "This government, having lied in its manifesto has betrayed students. Members of all sides of the House are well aware that opposition to variable fees remains, not just from students but from lecturers, parents, families and the wider general public," she said.

"With a general election approaching, NUS and the student movement will never forget what has happened with this Bill. We have no doubt that top-up fees will severely hamper the educational opportunity of the poor and disadvantaged in our society," said Ms Fletcher.