There have been reports that top universities have threatened to leave the state funded higher education system unless allowed to charge top-up fees.

The newly appointed education secretary, Charles Clarke, is said to have postponed a November announcement on HE funding prompting a warning from elite universities that the government should not move away from a done deal on extra fees.

Universities are seeking to charge "differential fees" to reflect world elite status - the charges could be as much as £15,000 on top of existing tuition fees.

Forum Response: Universities UK

A spokesman for Universities UK told ePolitix.com: "It is vital that we look at the effect on all universities of any deregulation of the sector that may be proposed in the government's strategy document.

"Differential fees may be one of the options, and universities are prepared to have that debate to ensure that all the implications of deregulation are examined in full.

"Universities are concerned that there be an appropriate mix of public and private funding for the sector but it's clear that income raised by tuition fees alone would not meet the needs of the sector as a whole.

"Substantial public funding is necessary to meet the £9.94 billion additional investment needed in higher education which we identified in our submission to the government's spending review."