Student funding: twin piques

How many other readers recognised the tale that, with slight variations, is being repeated in universities all over the country ("Bursar admits blunder", THES, October 2)?

On registration day, my daughter, a fresher at Royal Holloway, was presented with a demand for the full Pounds 1,000 contribution towards tuition fees despite having been told previously that it could be paid in two instalments. She was told that failure to deposit the said amount would prevent her registering as a student of the university. Had we not been able to pay the money into her account, at considerable inconvenience to ourselves, her university career, it seems, would have been very short. As only registered students can claim their grant cheques and apply for student loans, and as few students will have the necessary Pounds 1,000 at their disposal until their loans come through, how does any university expect a student to come up with the money within the first week of term? This three-stage Catch 22 is extremely worrying for an 18-year-old unused to dealing with large amounts of money. Is it any wonder that potential students without guarantors are being put off applying for university places?

Hilary Wilson Southampton