Bullingdon Bertie?

£9,000 fees could seem like a drop in the ocean if UCL takes the advice of former Tory Education Secretary Lord Baker, who says the university should go private.

The educational bigwig suggested that British universities will no longer be able to keep up with their international rivals unless they are allowed to charge whatever they want to students, who would still receive loans for fees that could at least double.

Lord Baker envisages the LSE, King’s and Imperial all going private along with UCL as London becomes a posho paradise. Oxford and Cambridge are much less likely to be able to go private in the near future as changes would require approval from all of their constituent colleges.

UCL has a history of pushing for higher fees. In 2010 Business Secretary Vince Cable told a conference that the Gower Street uni was threatening to go private unless fees were raised substantially.

One student, who wished to remain anonymous, said that they thought such a move would be “shameful”.

“£9,000 a year is a lot, but if UCL decided to go private and charge whatever they liked there would be no point in going unless you could afford the fees up front,” she told The Tab.

“Who’s going to want to pay back over £60,000 of debt on tuition fees alone? Getting a degree with those debts would just be pointless.”

At the time of publication UCLU could not be reached for a statement on the issue.