A WARRINGTON MP has slammed plans to charge students top-up fees but says a graduate tax could fund a world-class university system.

The Labour Government has come under heavy criticism for its policy that could see students wishing to attend the country's top universities charged more for the privilege under a top-up system.

Now Warrington North MP Helen Jones has come out in support of a separate plan for a higher rate of tax to be levied on graduates when they cross a specific income threshold after finishing university.

Helen Jones said: "I am opposed to top-up fees because I believe it would deter students from poorer homes from applying to the top universities.

"Speaking as someone who attended one of the top 20 universities, I would not wish to deny others the opportunities which I had.

"Nevertheless it is clear that the financing of the university system will have to change.

"Our universities are suffering from years of under-investment, the facilities in many are poor and some of our top researchers are moving abroad."

Mark Helsdon, from Great Sankey, is now in the second year of a mathematics PHD at the University of Cambridge after completing a four-year degree in mathematics at the University of Warwick, and says top-up fees would have prevented him from attending university at all.

He has been forced to work at evenings and weekends to fund his studies and believes extra fees will only make the situation worse.

The 23-year-old said: "There is a significant danger that top-up fees will compromise the principle of equal access to higher education regardless of means. The Government is yet to demonstrate that this is not the case."