Top-up fees could hit student travel

Up to two-thirds of students who had plans for a gap year involving worldwide travel may shelve the idea because of the introduction of top-up fees, according to a survey. The Times newspaper today reports that students applying this autumn for university places will be placed in a dilemma because, if they decide to defer their entry for a year, they will be the first group of students to be hit by top-up fees. The newspaper quotes the Raleigh International organisation, which has been organising gap-year travel for 20 years, as saying that the effect could be “cataclysmic” and it preparing for a significant drop in applications. Currently, The Times says, some 50,000 school leavers take a year off before going to university of finding a permanent job – with 30,000 of them embarking on independent travel projects. The newspaper also quotes Tom Griffiths, founder of gapyear.com, as saying that the UK’s GBP90 million independent travel market could be cut by a third. Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad