Country needs more imaginative ways to fund higher education than increasing costs for students

The union said increasing the cost for students and their parents was fundamentally incompatible with keeping a university education accessible to all, regardless of family wealth and background.

Universities UK's 'The Funding Challenge for Universities' examines student funding in America, Korea and Hungary, where a large proportion of a student's costs are met by family and individual earnings.

The report says that although higher student numbers in the UK will mean an increase in fee income, that increase won't be enough to make the necessary expansion and improvement in university infrastructure to maintain a high-quality student experience for all.

The report also warns that higher education will not be able to look to Government for extra funding as the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is expected to make further cuts in the coming years.

UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'There is no doubt that increasing student numbers is the right thing to do for the benefit of the next generation and for our economy. But looking to students and their families to pay for the increase is fundamentally incompatible with keeping a university education accessible to all, regardless of family wealth and background.

'We need to look at more imaginative ways to find public money to support our students - reversing the cut in corporation tax for big business would go a long way to funding future young people to do degree courses. We look forward to hearing the follow-up report's suggestions.'