A BBC survey has found that most universities want to raise their tuition fees.

Speaking anonymously, of 53 interviewed, two thirds of vice-chancellors said they wanted to raise fees to £4,000- £20,000 a year and more than half wanted there to be no limit on what they can charge students.

University fees must be reviewed this year by the Government - and there are already arguments about whether the present £3,500 cap on fees should be lifted.

Sally Hunt, leader of the UCU lecturers' union, accused vice chancellors of "ignoring the views of the general public as they try to secure more cash by any means possible".

The education secretary who brought in the first tuition fees, David Blunkett, now says it would be "unacceptable to lift the cap and have a free-for-all across universities".