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Students are expected to rally outside parliament this afternoon to demand that MPs sign up to a pledge to vote against any increase in fees in the next parliament.
On Monday the government and the Conservative Party jointly launched a review of higher education, which will look at raising the cap on tuition fees up to £7,000. The current cap in England is £3,225 a year.
But the review will not report back until after the election, expected in May.
Student leaders have reacted angrily to what they see as an attempt by the two main political parties to avoid a debate on tuition fees in the run up to the general election.
Wes Streeting, president of the National Union of Students, has warned MPs that if they refuse to declare their opposition to a rise in tuition fees students will b encouraged to abandon them.
“The vast majority of the general public is against higher fees, and voters deserve to know where their MP stands on this key issue," he said.
"Today students are making it clear to politicians that if they refuse to speak out against raising the cap on fees, we will hit them where it hurts – at the ballot box."
Streeting also expressed concerns that a review dominated by business and university leaders would "stitch up" students with a hike in tuition fees.
The NUS believes that university education should be free at the point of use, with graduates giving back to the system according to how much they earn.
And the student group points to a recent YouGov poll commissioned by pressure group Compass that showed only 12 per cent of the public think the review should even consider increasing fees.
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd