Almost a third of UK universities are planning to keep all or part of the fee from the day a student enrols, even if they decide after a short time that the course is not for them.

A further 30% will give students a month from the start of term before keeping some or all of the money.

This year's intake of higher education students will be the first to pay government-imposed tuition fees of up to £1,000-a-year.

More than 100 universities were questioned by the BBC television programme Just One Chance.

Variations

Attitudes to fees vary widely between institutions: Luton will keep them from day one of the course while the University of Manchester's Institute of Science and Technology will wait until Christmas.

However, local councils who pay a proportion of the fees of less affluent students will not have to pay anything if students drop out before December.

The President of the National Union of Students, Andrew Pakes, said: "The problem is that universities are more interested in looking after their own bank balance rather than the welfare of individual students.

"It's about time we actually started a partnership - that if you go and study you expect something from the university but if you are unfortunate and you are forced to drop out, the university should recognise these circumstances and allow students to get on with their lives."

A spokesman for the Department for Education and Employment said such arrangements were for universities to decide.