Oxford University will charge reduced tuition fees of £3,500 for first-year students from the poorest backgrounds from 2012 under funding proposals announced on Tuesday.
Although the institution plans to charge the full £9,000 a year for undergraduates whose parents and guardians earn more than £25,001, it has put forward a sliding scale of fees for lower-income families.
A student from a household earning less than £16,000 per annum would be charged £3,500 for the first year and £6,000 for subsequent years. Currently, the maximum charge is £3,000 per year.
They would also qualify for the highest tier of bursary offered by the university to cover student living costs, of £4,300 in the first year and £3,300 afterwards.
But those from households earning between £16,001 and £20,000 would be charged £7,000 for every year of study, and the annual cost would be £8,000 for families with an income of £20,001 to £25,000.
Tuition fees would not need to be paid back until the student has graduated and is earning a salary of at least £21,000.
On Monday, Oxford University's council approved proposals to offer income-dependent bursaries to all students whose parents earn less than £42,600 a year, ranging from £4,300 to £1,000 in the first year and £3,300 to £500 for following years.
Vice-chancellor Andrew Hamilton said in a letter to parents and staff that "about one in six" students would benefit from the tuition fee waivers.
"The total value of the package of waivers and bursaries is more than £12 million a year, nearly double what we spend at present," he said.
The university - which estimates each undergraduate costs £16,000 a year to educate - has until mid-April to submit its tuition fee plans to the government's Office for Fair Access (OFFA) for approval. An OFFA spokesman said all proposals would be approved or rejected by July 11.
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