Students failed to pay universities over £3m in tuition fees last year.

A survey from the Committee of Vice Chancellors and Principals (CVCP) shows that £146.5m had been paid in tuition fees in the academic year 1998-99 - out of an expected total of £150m.

Universities are claiming this as a success, saying 97% of tuition fees were collected, with the shortfall covered by a £20m allowance for administration and non-payment.

"This was the first year of the new system. Higher education staff have worked hard to ensure their institutions were able to collect the tuition fees - and these have paid off in large measure," said the CVCP's chief executive, Baroness Warwick.

Anti-fees campaign

Tuition fees were loudly resisted by student unions last year, with demonstrations and occupations in universities throughout the UK.

These have continued this year, with further occupations of buildings being staged as part of an ongoing campaign to abolish fees.

Students claimed that the £1,025-a-year tuition fees would deter applications from young people from less well-off families.

But the government has said statistics show there has been no impact on applications, and that there are means-tested exemptions for students facing financial hardship.

The CVCP also says that universities have taken a flexible approach to collecting fees and have sought to help overcome payment difficulties.

However the prospect of a separate approach to tuition fees in Scotland from the rest of the UK makes the dispute over fees likely to continue.