Nick Clegg has apologised for the Lib Dems breaking their pledge to oppose an increase in student tuition fees.
In a party political broadcast to be aired next week, the Lib Dem leader says he is sorry the party "did not stick" to its pre-election promise.
"When you have made a mistake you should apologise," he adds.
The BBC's political editor Nick Robinson said Mr Clegg had resisted making such a "clear and direct" apology for nearly two years.
Mr Clegg believed the decision to break his word by first signing then breaking a pledge to vote against fee rises had become a weight around his and his party's ankles, Nick Robinson added.
However, Mr Clegg does not apologise for backing the decision to raise fees.
He continues to argue it was the right move in the circumstances and the package offered by the coalition - in which no fees are paid upfront - was fairer for students than the previous system of university finance.
MPs approved plans in 2010 to allow universities in England and Wales to charge annual tuition fees of up to £9,000, nearly three times the previous £3,200 limit.
'Not easy'Before the 2010 election, all Lib Dems had said they would oppose any rise in fees.
More than 21 Lib Dem MPs voted against the proposals at the time, including former leaders Charles Kennedy and Sir Menzies Campbell, while a further eight abstained or did not vote.
Mr Clegg was among 27 Lib Dems to support the proposals.
In next week's broadcast, filmed in Mr Clegg's home, the deputy prime minister returns to an issue which has been the source of the biggest division in the party since it came to power in May 2010.
"There's no easy way to say this: we made a pledge, we didn't stick to it - and for that I am sorry," he says.
"When you've made a mistake you should apologise. But more importantly - most important of all - you've got to learn from your mistakes. And that's what we will do.
"I will never again make a pledge unless as a party we are absolutely clear about how we can keep it."
Speaking to the BBC in 2010, Mr Clegg said he was "not going to apologise for this for one minute", adding that "to govern is to choose particularly when there is not very much money".
The development comes ahead of the start of the Lib Dems autumn conference on Saturday.
20 Sep, 2012
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Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-19646731#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
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