Labour's university policies remain the subject of much debate

He believes he was forced out of a university education by the Labour government's policies.

He had a student loan of about �3,000. He had to pay tuition fees of �1,100 a year, plus �75 a week rent - then food, books, transport and so on.

His father earned too much for him to qualify for any support, but - like many students from apparently "well off" families - was unable to help him financially, he said.

"I would have had to work about 20 hours a week on top of studying my degree to just about survive.

"A �5,000 grant would have meant I could have got a university education, so yes, it would definitely have helped, and I would probably have been getting my second year results about now."

He said another problem was that to make up the shortfall in funding, his university - like others - was forced into taking foreign students, who pay the full price for their courses.

"Unfortunately, the calibre of the foreign students was such that many who had a limited grasp of English were attempting to study a BSc in economics and statistics, which obviously impacts on the quality of the course."

He now works as an administrator in Manchester earning �10,500 a year.

University ambition

In Chesterfield, lifelong Labour voter Malc Heeley is wondering whether he can afford to send his 17-year-old daughter to university.

There is no tradition of higher education in the family. Malc himself left school with five O-levels and has worked for 32 years for the Post Office - where he is now possibly facing redundancy.

His daughter Catherine Louise is awaiting her AS-level results in art, English and geography and has said she would like to go to university with a view to becoming a computer games designer.

But the family income is �26,000 a year - "not a massive amount these days", her father said, especially with �1,000 council tax to pay.

The recent changes to tax credits and national insurance have left them slightly worse off.

Will she, won't she?

So will his daughter become the first person in the family to go to university - exactly what the government wants to encourage?

"I don't know how I would pay for it," he said.

A grant of �5,000 "would certainly make a difference. If we were given that then I would hope that would cover all the costs for her to be away from home."

He added: "I have always voted Labour because to me they are for the working people and the Conservatives are for the richer people.

"But the Labour Government we have just got now are not quite what we expected really, I don't feel and better off with these than with 18 years of Tory rule."

Money worries

Lucie Barnes from Liverpool said she was virtually in tears at the prospect of her university costs.

"Working the figures out, my student loan will just - and I mean just - cover my rent," she said.

Her mother earns less than �15,000 a year and will attempt to support her, but she also has a brother going into his second year of university study.

Lucie, 20, finished her A-levels in law, politics and art two years ago and took a break - travelling in South America then, this year, working "in the vain attempt to save up cash for university".

She has a place at Oxford Brookes University to study publishing.

But after covering her outgoings she has managed to save "the wonderful sum of �400".

"I am actually pretty stressed about the whole situation now to be honest, there's no clear way that my figures will add up.

"I was planning to get paid employment anyway while in Oxford, I guess now that's not going to be my 'additional extra' to pay for some leisure stuff, it's going to be a necessity.

"As for the �5,000 per year grant, it sounds brilliant to me - but after so much talk of money, loans and grants by people in government I wish they'd get it sorted."