The UK government has announced that university tuition fees are set to rise with inflation, starting in 2026. Announced by Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson in Parliament on 20 October, the move comes after tuition fees were hiked in 2024 from £9,250, a number which had been frozen since 2017/2018, to £9,535.
Phillipson had previously said that raising tuition fees would be “unpalatable” in August of 2024.
While the exact amount is not yet known, if fees were to rise at the current rate of inflation, the BBC estimates that this would amount to a £400 a year increase, totalling £9,900 after the first rise.
Universities UK — the organisation that represents the UK’s university sector said, “Today’s white paper offers a much-needed reset for our university system. It makes clear that universities are a huge national asset, rightly admired around the world. We need them to be in great shape if we want national renewal”.
However, Jo Grady, the General Secretary of the Universities and College Union (UCU) said, “This white paper presented a massive opportunity to properly invest in our great universities, which contribute £265 billion to the economy. Labour has instead double downed on the disastrous tuition-fees funding model, which created the crisis the sector is currently facing”.
The UCU is currently balloting members on potential future strike action, with the voting to close on Friday 28 November.
Professor Duncan Ivison, the President and Vice-Chancellor at the University of Manchester commented in his 2024 interview with The Mancunion after taking post that he believed university tuition fees had to increase in line with inflation because “it’s just not sustainable for it not to be, over time”, which is something he reiterated in an “Ask Me Anything Q&A” he held on 21 October.
There have been widespread concerns about the financial health of the university sector, with several universities across the country cutting staff and other costs. The Universities and College Union (UCU) estimates that the total number of cut staff across the sector is around 12,000 in the last year.
In the data published by Universities UK, they note that with inflation increasing the costs of teaching delivery, the current fixed rate of tuition of £9,535 is substantially lower than their estimate of £15,800, which tuition fees would have been had they increased in line with inflation.
The same report notes that that Universities in the UK are facing a £1.4 billion loss on educating domestic students, which Universities UK argue is “completely unsustainable for both students and universities”.
However, Phillipson noted in her commons speech that the charging of full fees by universities will be “conditional on high quality teaching” and that universities should acknowledge the challenge to “drive out low quality provision”.
Maintenance loans will also increase in line with inflation, in conjunction with the recently announced return of maintenance grants, which the government says will be funded by a tax levied on international student fees.
