British uni students to pay through nose

File photo / Supplied.

A public university education in England could become the most expensive in the world.

An inquiry into student finance headed by the former BP boss Lord Browne, which reports in less than two weeks, is expected to recommend moving towards market rates in university fees - which would mean doubling the present levy to £7000 ($14,900) a year.

Even if a more modest rise to £5000 is recommended, English universities would still have the highest fees, according to OECD research.

Current figures show Iceland has the highest average fee for a public degree course at £4072. In second place is the United States with £3572 a year (although students at private universities pay a lot more, on average £13,877). These are the only countries, along with Norway, charging more than England. Six of the 22 developed nations the OECD surveyed do not charge any fees at all.

English fees are £3240 a year - the average for the table is £1427.

Browne's committee is widely expected to allow a handful of the country's most selective universities - most likely Oxford, Cambridge, University College London and Imperial College - to charge above the increase he recommends provided they guarantee that bursaries will exempt disadvantaged students from forking out the higher fee.

It's also expected to recommend interest charges on loans and that high-earning graduates should repay more through the tax system.

However, Labour leader Ed Miliband wants to change party policy (which introduced top-up fees in 2006), scrapping fees and introducing a graduate tax instead.

- INDEPENDENT