Speaking at the event - A New Deal for Part-time and Distance Students - in London on 12 October, Bill Jones, an expert in lifelong learning, said increased access to loans for part-time students would not compensate for an 80 per cent reduction in teaching funding.

Professor Jones, a member of the executive board of the Universities Association for Lifelong Learning, said the price of some courses could increase fivefold when government subsidies were removed.

He said that if a university charging the full £9,000 tuition fee to full-time students provided a one-term, evening-class course of two hours a week at pro rata cost, students could expect to pay £750 in 2012 - rather than the current £150.

"We are pricing out (everyone except) those who can pay a lot," said Professor Jones, an honorary chair in lifelong learning at the University of Leicester.

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"Once these areas of provision disappear, it will be almost impossible to get them back."

Speaking to 51³Ô¹Ï, Professor Jones said: "No sane person is going to pay that much - you are killing off the market. This kind of provision is a toe in the water. These are often the students who come back to do a full degree and get a first.

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"It matters to students if these courses disappear. But does it really matter to universities?"

Teaching grants for part-time students will drop from £410 million to £85 million by 2014-15. They will have access to loans to cover fees only if they are taking first degrees for the first time.

Part-timers must also study for at least 25 per cent of the intensity of full-time courses to be eligible for loans.

Ed Lester, chief executive of the Student Loans Company, said the impact of higher fees on part-time students remained uncertain. "We do not know what the take-up (of loans) will be. It is a real headache for institutions."

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jack.grove@tsleducation.com.