Roehampton University has opted not to charge maximum student tuition fees from 2012 despite many universities across the country announcing £9,000-a-year course costs.

Most Roehampton students will pay £7,900-a-year for their undergraduate degrees, with those on courses with higher costs such as bio-sciences being charged £8,250.

For those studying at Foundation Degree level the fee will be £7,500.

The university listened to more than 2,000 students, prospective students and their parents, and decided not to charge the maximum cost.

Roehampton is expecting to lose more than 95 per cent of its grant from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) by 2014 and almost all its capital funding - creating a greater reliance on tuition fees.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul O’Prey said he was aware of a fear of debt felt by prospective students and because of this the university would take a different approach to that adopted by many others.

He said: “98 per cent of the tuition fee paid by a student at Roehampton will be spent directly on his or her education - this is probably the highest proportion in the country. Roehampton is in the fortunate position of having a very diverse student body and very good rates of retention.

“In a university where the majority of students come from relatively modest backgrounds, most will prefer to know that what they are paying is being spent directly on teaching and learning.”