The students fought a long campaign

The government has succeeded in getting the legislation through despite strong opposition from its own MPs as well as from the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.

But students are pledging to continue campaigning against the changes, which will scrap up-front fees but bring in higher charges which will be paid after graduation.

Students have staged many demonstrations against the changes and say they are not going to roll over and accept them.

They say higher fees will lead to a two-tier system with students from richer families choosing to go to the most prestigious institutions, while those from poorer families will look for the cheaper options closer to home.

The new president of the National Union of Students, Kat Fletcher, said the passage of the bill marked "a tragic day for the future of education in the UK".

'Fighting for seats'

She warned that MPs who had initially said they would oppose the bill but then went on to support it might suffer in the next general election.

"With a general election approaching, NUS and the student movement will never forget what has happened with this Bill.

"We have no doubt that top-up fees will severely hamper the educational opportunity of the poor and disadvantaged in our society.

"The MPs who gave their word that they would vote against top-up fees but reneged on that promise will be fighting for their seats at the next election."

The new student president told BBC News Online she thought it was important that the union became 'more activist' and that it would run a campaign focussed on the next general election.

Top-ups are hated not just by students, but by parents, lecturers and the public in general Kat Fletcher, NUS president

"I believe in a variety of tactics and actions and the union will support students who act in defence of their education," she said.

She said Labour would suffer at the election because of its higher education policy.

"Top-ups are hated not just by students, but by parents, lecturers and the public in general."

Students in England and Wales will have to pay a maximum of �3,000 a year in tuition fees but not until after they have graduated and are earning more than �15,000 a year.

The Higher Education Bill also re-introduced a maintenance grant of �1,000 from this September, which had been scrapped.

Under concessions agreed by the government during negotiations on the bill, students from poorer families will be eligible for a mixture of fee-remission, maintenance grant and bursaries to equal the maximum �3,000 annual tuition fee.

Welcoming the passage of the Bill on Thursday, the Education Secretary Charles Clarke said it marked a landmark in education.

He said it would give universities an extra, much needed source of independent funding in the fairest way possible.