A HUGE cash boost aimed at encouraging working class students to go to university has been announced, as critics claimed that not enough money was going into research, putting thousands of jobs at risk.

Funding for "widening participation" has shot up fivefold to £265 million, with £155 million allocated according to A-level grades and other entry qualifications achieved by undergraduates from poor families.

In its announcement, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) said that would help universities cope with the high cost of assisting young people with no family experience of campus life.

The move comes as the row over alleged positive discrimination against private school pupils continued to rumble.

Academic sources argued that, because most of the money being dedicated to research was just for departments rated as doing work of international importance, about 18,000 jobs could go.

Dozens of medicine, nursing, science, computing and social work departments could also face closure, they warned.

While England has the second lowest drop-out rate in the world behind Japan, and the highest degree completion rate, wastage from some courses can be as high as 45%.

Many so-called "non-traditional" undergraduates leave before the end of the first year, unable to cope with university life for a number of reasons.

Overall, HEFCE was distributing £5.5 billion among 132 higher education institutions and 170 further education colleges which offer HE courses in England for 2003-2004.