THE University of Hertfordshire will have its funding for next year cut by almost �2 million, after it over-recruited by more than 500 students during 2009/10.

For the academic year starting this autumn, the Hatfield-based institute will be given �1.9 million less by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), after it took on 502 students more than it should have done last year.

This penalty makes the university the second worst offender in the country, with only De Montfort University in Leicester being fined more (�3.4 million).

A spokeswoman for the University of Hertfordshire blamed an exceptional demand for places for the over-recruitment.

For more on this story, see tomorrow’s Welwyn Hatfield Times.