Quote of the day

"The London School of Economics has become the first elite university to declare that it will not charge the full £9,000 tuition fees next year.

Academics voted against charging the full fees by just one vote. Instead the annual tuition fee for UK and EU undergraduates will be £8,500.

It is the first of the elite Russell Group universities to charge less than the maximum.

A large number of the universities in the group, including Cambridge, Oxford, Nottingham and Imperial College London, will be charging £9,000 for the 2012 academic year.

An LSE spokesman said the fee sends a 'clear message' that it welcomes pupils from 'all backgrounds'."

A reduction of £500? A margin of one vote? Well done to LSE for redefining the concept of a "clear message".