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STUDENTS had their prayers answered this week after the government appeared to have won the Lords' support for controversial clause 18 of the Teaching and Higher Education Bill.

Members of the Aldwych Group of student unions, set up to shadow the Russell Group of leading research universities, wrote to education secretary David Blunkett on Tuesday urging the government to keep the clause to prevent top-up fees. The previous day, however, Liberal Democrat peers had abandoned their official opposition to clause 18. The Aldwych Group disputes the Russell Group's claims that no university is considering charging undergraduate fees of more than Pounds 1,000.