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Higher education institutions could have to pay £70 million more next year because of the 1 per cent rise in employers' national insurance contributions.

The estimate, by the Universities and Colleges Employers Association, is based on 1 per cent of £7.5 billion (the total staff bill for higher education) minus a few million for part-time staff earning less than £4,628 a year.

The Department for Education and Skills puts the extra cost of higher education employers' NICs in England at £90 million over the next three years. It had said earlier that the cost was estimated at £90 million next year.