Budding artists will see tuition fees rocket to £9,000 a year in 2012, a university has announced.

Undergraduates at Wimbledon College of Art - part of the six-campus University of the Arts London - will see fees almost triple from next September.

The head of the institution, which announced the new charges on Tuesday, said it was set to lose almost all of its teaching funding from the Government.

Rector Nigel Carrington said: “Because of that loss and because our costs reflect our London locations and specialist resources, we would need to charge 2012/13 fees of more than £8,600 simply to stand still; by charging £9,000 we will be able to increase our investment in access measures to widen participation and continue to invest in the student academic experience in order to meet the high standards our students expect.”

He promised to “substantially increase” extra support for students from poorer backgrounds, which includes bursaries and scholarships, in the coming years. This needs to be signed off by public body the Office of Fair Access before the fees can be raised.

The Government has cut funding to universities and asked them to make up the shortfall by charging students more than the current across-the-board annual fee for British undergraduates of £3,290.

The University of the Arts’ £9,000 fee is the maximum institutions can charge.

The Merton Hall Road college was founded in 1890 and runs undergraduate and postgraduate courses focusing on fine art and theatre design. Its alumni include illustrator Raymond Briggs, Turner prize winning sculptor Tony Cragg and musician Jeff Beck.

Get regular news updates by:

Wimbledon Times: Facebook  Liking our Facebook page

Wimbledon Times: Twitter  Following us on Twitter

...or click here to receive a daily e-mail news bulletin.