The university of Plymouth's become the latest institution to propose hiking tuition fees to the 9-thousand pound per year maximum.

It follows MPs voting last year to treble the cap on tuition fees.

Although ministers insisted institutions should only charge the maximum in 'exceptional circumstances', three quarters of England's universities have opted to do so.

There are fears that the hike will put many students off going to university, but officials stress the fees are not paid upfront - and that any institution charging the maximum should offer support to students from poorer backgrounds.

The university says no one will have to pay fees upfront and that nothing is repaid until you are earning twenty one thousand pounds a year.