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The campaign will parallel a 300-strong movement of academics at the University of Cambridge, and is set to be established at a meeting at Worcester College, Oxford next week.

Bernard Sufrin, one of the Oxford academics organising the OuCHE! group, said that attendees at the meeting on 7 March would discuss what measures could be taken ¡°to enable us to add our voices to the growing chorus of those with misgivings about the economics, logistics and politics of the higher education ¡®revolution¡¯¡±.

The emeritus Fellow and tutor in computation at Worcester College added: ¡°We will also discuss what can be done in Oxford to persuade our council ¨C many of whose members support our views ¨C to speak more trenchantly about the dangers posed to the universities by the very rapid (and apparently badly modelled) changes in funding.¡±

The development comes as 681 ¡°deeply concerned¡± Oxbridge academics signed an to a national newspaper criticising the ¡°breakneck speed¡± of the government¡¯s changes to fees and funding.

The letter in The Independent calls for a public commission of inquiry to be set up to examine the changes, which the academics describe as an ¡°extremely risky and irresponsible experiment¡±.

simon.baker@tsleducation.com