TEACHING leaders said yesterday that soaring numbers of students making complaints against their institutions came as no surprise as students increasingly see themselves as consumers.

The number of complaints made by students in the last year rose by a huge 10 per cent to more than 20,000, a survey of 120 universities by academics’ union UCU revealed.

UCU said a rise in complaints had been expected since the introduction of £9,000 annual tuition fees.

General secretary Sally Hunt said: “The increase in complaints comes alongside a massive increase in fees and some students and their parents might now expect more bang for their increased buck.

“Universities spend plenty of money on marketing, but substance is always more important than style. Universities need to clarify exactly what students can expect from a course and what is expected of them.”

Tuition fees were tripled by the Tories and their Liberal Democrat collaborators in direct contravention of a signed pre-election declaration by the latter of opposition to increases.

However, UCU said the fees hike was brought in to plug funding gaps following massive government cuts to universities funding.

News of the complaints came as a parliamentary report this month revealed that average student debt now stands at £53,000 per person.

The report also said that £10 billion was now being committed in student loans each year and that the total debt was expected to reach £80bn by 2017.

Charity the Northern Council for Further Education (NCFE) said in its own report today that the high cost of higher and further education was the main factor discouraging almost 50 per cent of adults from applying for courses.

Other factors cited by 2,000 adult survey respondents included being “too old” (36 per cent) and family commitments (24 per cent).

Labour shadow minister for universities, science and skills Liam Byrne added: “The government’s failure has created huge uncertainty for universities and students alike as they look to plan ahead. Ministers urgently need to get a grip.”