UK review calls for higher university tuition fees

Universities in England should be freed from restrictions on the amount they charge students for their education, a government-ordered review said on Tuesday.

The recommendation could see fees for tuition rising sharply from the present cap of 3,290 pounds ($5,250) a year.

Adopting the proposals will be politically difficult for Britain's two-party coalition government, whose junior Liberal Democrat party pledged in the May general election to abolish the fees altogether.

The review also proposed that students, who take subsidised loans to cover the fees, would not have to make repayments until they earn at least 21,000 pounds after graduation, higher than the current 15,000 pound threshold.