Norwich University College of the Arts logo.

Norwich University College of the Arts today announced that it intends to charge annual tuition fees of £8,500 from 2012.

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The decision, which is subject to approval by the office of Fair Access (Offa), follows University of East Anglia’s (UEA) move last month to go for the maximum £9,000 a year.

And in March, the region’s other higher education institution, University Campus Suffolk (UCS), opted for £7,500 for foundation degrees and £8,000 for bachelor degrees.

Prof Jon Last, principal of Nuca, which has its headquarters on Redwell Street in Norwich, said: “In setting a fee of £8,500 the university college will be able to provide our future students with the high quality teaching and resources expected from a specialist institution.

“This reflects our continued commitment to providing industry-standard facilities, which ensures our students are able to secure employment when they graduate.”

He added: “We provide our students with the skills needed in the creative economy and have an excellent record of students securing jobs – with 90pc in employment within six months of graduating.

“However, delivering art, design and media courses such as film making, fashion and games design demands a high level of continued investment and, with the reduction in government funding, tuition fees need to increase to this level.”

The government’s announcement that tuition fees would increase to a maximum £9,000 per year from September 2012 coincided with a big reduction in public funding for higher education institutions - leaving universities to work out how to plug the gap.

And, despite ministers saying they believed many universities would opt for considerably less than the £9,000 cap, the majority have so far gone for either £9,000 or just below.

Prof Last said the fees would be accompanied by a “comprehensive package” of scholarships and bursaries to enable people from poorer backgrounds to access the university college.

He said: “We have an excellent track record in the support of students from less privileged backgrounds and over one-third of students currently benefit from Nuca bursaries.

“This is one reason why we maintain our excellent student retention rate of over 94pc. We plan to increase our investment in student support to over £2m over the next three years as well as an ongoing investment in staff, estates and equipment.”