Pay as you learn

There is a free-market remedy to the problems of top-up fees and university funding. Students could pay their fees directly to teachers for part of their income, as used to happen in Scotland.

Adam Smith recommended "a touch of market economics" after experiencing poor teaching as an undergraduate at Oxford. It could drive up standards and teachers’ incomes - good teachers would attract more students, and therefore more fees.

ELLIS THORPE

Old Chapel Walk

Inverurie, Aberdeenshire