London: Top universities of Britain, levying 9,000 pounds in tuition fees next year, will be actually charging up to 50 percent more from their students than the actual cost of their courses.

Analysis of leading research-based universities shows the cost of some teaching courses is well below 6,000 pounds per year, meaning students will be paying thousands extra every year.

The figures, released by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, are based on data from 2009-10, and cover 47 subjects and seven groups of similar universities and colleges.

Students doing arts and humanities subjects like business studies, social studies and languages are being overcharged the most, as these are cheaper to run.

Students on these courses, which often require fewer facilities and teaching hours, will be subsidising more expensive programmes in the sciences.

This money will also go towards providing thousands of pounds in bursaries for poorer undergraduates.

David Willetts, the universities minister, claimed the variations would make universities more accountable to students because they would have to demonstrate value for money. IANS