Mature students are failing to take up third-level offers because of the costs involved. The Government should bite the bullet and abolish fees for part-time third-level courses, says UCD's Professor Pat Clancy, dean of the faculty of philosophy and sociology.

Clancy, author of the Clancy reports, which survey entrants to higher education, is one of a growing number of academics who regard the current system as unjust. If fees could be abolished for full-time courses, they can also be abolished for part-time courses, he argues. There are several generations of the population who had no opportunity to go to third level. It is an inequality which must be addressed.

Clancy believes that many mature students are failing to take up third-level places because of the costs involved. "As dean of philosophy and sociology I have discretion over the mature intake," he explains. "We have increased our quota to 15 per cent on the full-time course. Even though we had a long waiting list, we haven't filled these places this year. People didn't take up their offers. "Because of the buoyant jobs market, the cost of full-time higher education is now too great (for many mature students).

"I am confident that the majority of mature applicants would be happy to come to college on a part-time basis - but the fee level makes this impossible. We should bite the bullet and abandon the distinction between full and part-time courses. On the continent this notion doesn't exist."