The students, who have written to the university saying that they are maintaining their fees protest, will not be able to use University of Oxford services such as libraries or computers when they return for the new term next week.

Another three students who have failed to respond to the final demand for fees will also be barred from university facilities if they try to return this term.

In support of the students, who are protesting against the government's introduction of tuition fees of £1,000 per year, the Oxford University Student Union is to stage a protest march later this month, as the anti-fees campaign continues into the new year.

Tuition fees have not deterred applications for university, says that government

Despite the suspension, it is possible that the non-paying first-year students will be able to continue attending lectures and studying for their degrees, using the facilities of individual colleges rather than the university.

Although previous payment deadlines have been set and broken, the university is still seeking a settlement and says that any sanctions against the students will be lifted as soon as payment is made.

Exams deadline

If the university authorities avoid a confrontation over fees this term, an unambiguous deadline will occur in the summer when the students have to sit first-year exams.

Without payment of fees, the university says, students will be disallowed from taking exams and without the exams, students will be unable to continue with their courses.

At the end of last term, 14 students were refusing to pay tuition fees. Although eight paid over the Christmas holidays, three students have told the university they will not pay and another three have failed to respond to demands for payment.

A spokeswoman for the university said that the Oxford authorities were caught in a dispute between the students and the government. The university was obliged to collect the fees, she said, and it would be unfair to allow individual students not to pay.

The Oxford University Student Union is continuing to support the three remaining students refusing to pay fees. The union's president, Josh Bell, says a campaign committee has been set up to organise protests.

A march through Oxford is to be held by students from 16 universities on 22 January and next month a conference at Oxford's student union will look at anti-payment strategies across the country.

Student unions have argued that tuition fees will stop young people from poor backgrounds from applying to university and that fees add to the financial hardship facing students. But the government has argued that this year's university applications show that students have not been deterred by the introduction of fees and that an improved student loan system covers the extra cost.