Where is your £9,000 a year going? Three quarters of unis won’t tell you

Three quarters of universities are breaching consumer law by failing to tell undergraduates what their fees will buy them. 

The report from consumer watchdog Which? revealed other crucial information unis are not making available, including contact hours with staff, expected work loads and up to date information on fees.

Unis which fell into the unlawful category by failing to provide updated course fee information included top tier institutions like Cambridge, King’s and St Andrews.

Oxford could also do better when providing information about core modules and details on additional costs.

Which? said nearly two thirds of unis didn’t provide us with up-to-date information on course fees, and four in five did not state or provide clarity on any extra fees we may have to pay to complete the course.

Astonishingly, 47 out of 50 universities in the report failed to provide information to help us decide on the course quality, such as contact hours, staff qualifications and exams.

76 per cent of the 50 universities it looked at are breaching consumer law by failing to provide prospective students with vital information.

Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said: “Students deserve to know at least the basics of what they can expect from a course before signing up, so it’s disappointing to find that a large number of universities are still breaching consumer law.

“It’s encouraging to see some providers demonstrating good practice, but we now need all universities to make better information easily available and accessible for prospective students.”