Bar on interference by university watchdog

The Government's planned university "access regulator" will be legally barred from interfering in student admissions policy, ministers have decided.

Following claims that well-qualified pupils from middle-class homes would lose out to those from poorer families, the flagship Higher Education Bill will be amended to make clear that the new Office for Fair Access (Offa) will have no such powers.

An explanation of the restrictions will be written onto the face of the Bill when it returns to the Lords today, the Evening Standard has learned - peers have threatened to wreck the Bill if the regulator plan goes ahead unchanged.

The move is seen by ministers as the best way to reassure parents, pupils and universities that Offa will not impose cash penalties on any institution that fails to admit a certain quota of students from poorer families.

Offa will, however, still have the power to insist that universities will not be allowed to charge £3,000 top-up fees unless they can prove they have made great efforts to increase access to working class children.

The new legislation nearly brought down Tony Blair earlier this year when it scraped through the Commons despite a rebellion by Labour MPs furious at the proposals for top-up fees.

Universities were angry at government interference and middle-class pupils, particularly those at independent schools, were worried they would be discriminated against in any run-off against less well-off candidates with similar A-level grades.

The concern persisted despite repeated denials from both the Prime Minister and Education Secretary Charles Clarke. Now ministers have decided to amend the Bill to ensure the legislation a smooth passage.

Ministers are confident that the fees controversy is now over as most Tory and Liberal Democrat peers disagree with their own parties' opposition to making students pay more for their education.