Poor students must be protected if tuition fees are raised, claims Lord Mandelson.In a speech today the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation & Skills addressed issues facing universities including funding, believed to be the biggest challenge facing higher education. Tuition fees will be reviewed in the autumn, and problems with funding could lead to these being raised. Teaching budgets have already been cut this year, yet places across the country will rise by 10,000.After last week’s report on social mobility showed poorer students were being punished by their social backgrounds, Lord Mandelson was keen to push for greater social mobility. He wants less well off students to have financial protection and mentoring from a younger age. Lord Mandelson said: “I do not believe that we can separate the issues of fees, access and student support. Any institution that wants to use greater costs to the student to fund excellence must face an equal expectation to ensure that its services remain accessible to more than just those with the ability to pay.“Whatever funding mix for higher education we develop, there must always be a link between what an institution charges and its performance in widening access and supporting those without the ability to pay.”NUS President Wes Streeting said:"Lord Mandelson's emphasis on social mobility and supporting poorer students ahead of the review of tuition fees is encouraging, but those universities pressing to charge higher tuition fees are the very same institutions who have made insufficient progress in ensuring that their doors are open to those from poorer backgrounds."There is no evidence to suggest that bursaries offered by elite institutions have made a dent on widening access. Given that, last year, 19 million pounds of student fee income ear marked for bursaries went unspent, it is not clear that universities can be trusted to ensure that poorer students are properly supported and encouraged to apply."Lord Mandelson must seriously consider whether a real market in tuition fees - where those who would charge the most are the worst at widening access - is the right way to realise his ambitions for widening social mobility. I hope the forthcoming review will consider radical alternatives to variable fees, including NUS' own proposals for a progressive graduate contribution based on earnings."