Nine universities will be allowed to charge sky-high tuition fees despite failing to offer a penny to poor students in plans revealed yesterday by the university regulator. 

Institutions wanting to charge more than £6,000-a-year for tuition fees have been expected to offer support to disadvantaged students in “access agreements.” Most offer bursaries or fee waivers. 

But the Office for Fair Access (Offa) has rubber-stamped agreements from nine institutions that offer no support for students in the next academic year.