LIVERPOOL Hope University has become the first in the city not to charge the full £9,000 tuition fees – but only by a few hundred pounds.

From 2012, the Government will permit the current £3,290 cap on tuition fees to be lifted to a maximum £9,000.

The university has refused to follow in the footsteps of the University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores, Ormskirk’s Edge Hill and University of Chester, with Vice Chancellor Gerald Pillay keeping his pledge not to charge the maximum amount, confirming its fees next year will be £8,250.

He had told staff “it is not fair to transfer all of Government debt to graduate debt”.

Confirming the fees, the university’s secretary Graham Donelan said a raft of support including bursaries, scholarships and other financial help would be made available and the tariff reflected the cost of delivering the courses.

He said: “We want the best students to come to us, irrespective of their family background or income.”

And he said the university, which is set to welcome 1,700 new students in September and has one of the best retention rates in the North West, would not see a dip in student numbers.

But last night city leader Joe Anderson said setting fees just below the £9,000 maximum would not be enough to convince students to take the university plunge.

He said: “At the end of the day, it will be the quality of teaching and university, rather than a few hundred quid.”