The future of the free fees policy is up in the air.

The Government was left red-faced this week when figures revealed that the free first year of tertiary education scheme did not boost first year enrolments.

It also showed that the people benefiting from the scheme the most were white and middle classed. 

However, political commentator Bryce Edwards says that one year is too early to tell if the scheme is working.

"We might actually see that after a while we might see it changes the culture, and poorer people will see there isn't the barrier there."

Edwards doubts that Labour will do a u-turn, but says it is likely that the rollout of the second and third year parts of the policy may be scrapped. 

LISTEN TO BRYCE EDWARDS TALK WITH THE WEEKEND COLLECTIVE ABOVE