HIGHER education centres in Chelmsford have been told what funding they will receive for the coming year.

Figures released by the Government show that Anglia Ruskin University which has its main campus in Chelmsford and Writtle College will both receive less in grants for the coming year.

ARU has had its grant cut by 5.5 %- which equates to £2.35m.

Writtle College has seen its grant cut by just under 4% A spokeswoman for Writtle College said: “We can confirm a 3.85 % cut for 2011 - in line with what the college contemplated and budgeted for.

“Our main focus now is to emphasise the quality and distinctiveness of our portfolio so we remain a popular choice for education after the introduction of higher fees in 2012.”

Already ARU has indicated that it will raise its fees to £8,000 from 2012.

Professor Michael Thorne, Vice Chancellor of the university, said: “We have always said that we are contemplating tuition fees of £8,000, which is the amount we would have to charge to stand still.

“The matter of the fees will go to the Board in a month’s time and nothing will be decided officially until then, not least because we will not know how much the government will claw back for its National Scholarship Programme and how much we would have to contribute towards the new Fair Access agreement.”