Speculation has been circulating for a while now as to whether tuition fees for university students will be raised by the new Labour government. While Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had previously stated that he wanted to abolish university tuition fees in 2020, the Labour party have just announced a tuition fee raise.
Background
Tuition fees pay for the general content of a university degree, including lectures, seminars, teaching assistants, equipment, and more. The majority of students take out a tuition fee loan from Student Finance and do not pay their tuition loans back until they are earning the threshold amount in a job. Tuition fees for home students have been capped at £9,250 a year since 2017. Without adjustment to account for inflation, this means that tuition fees have not kept up with rising costs facing universities. This means that many universities have been campaigning for a rise in tuition fees due to a lack of funding. £9,250 pays for a lot less in 2024 than it did in 2017. There has also been a decrease in the number of applications for university places from international students. This is due to a number of reasons, including changing visa requirements. International students pay higher tuition fees and so are an important source of funding for many universities.
Similarly, maintenance loans have not kept up with inflation and the rising cost of living. Maintenance loans are paid by Student Finance to students to help them cover the costs of rent, food, bills, and general living expenses. Students also do not pay back their maintenance loans until they are earning the threshold amount. With current maintenance loan payments, many students are struggling to keep up with costs and most have to work alongside their studies.
What’s happening to tuition fees?
From the academic year 2025/6, university tuition fees will rise to £9,535 a year for home students. As of September 2025, university students will pay more in tuition fees for their degrees. This will be covered by tuition fee loans in the same way as previous tuition fees were, so students will not pay extra until they are earning enough to pay back their loans.
It is somewhat unclear what will happen to tuition fees beyond the 2025/6 academic year. While it is assumed that fees will rise even higher, the exact amount or cap has not yet been explicitly stated.
What’s happening to maintenance loans?
Maintenance loans are also rising. To keep up with the rising cost of living, maintenance loans will rise by around 3.1%. It is hoped that this will help students cover their living costs. Maintenance loans will still be adjusted according to household income, but it is thought that this adjustment will help disadvantaged students in particular to cope with the costs of being at university.
What does this mean for students?
There is widespread speculation about what this will all mean for university students. While many students say it will put people off going to university, universities argue that they need the rise in funding. Some students have pointed out that there are other, cheaper ways of getting a well-paid job than going to university, especially if tuition fees rise. It can also be frustrating to consider the cost of some degrees that offer fewer resources. Humanities degrees, for example, with fewer contact hours and students often spending most of their time reading online materials rather than using costly resources, seem like they are getting a far worse deal. It seems predictable that students from disadvantaged backgrounds, whose parents may not have been to university, will be put off by rising costs, affecting social mobility. However, others argue that the cost of living is a more pressing concern for students, so the rise in maintenance loans will be an encouraging relief and may keep disadvantaged students in university.
It is difficult to predict how this change will impact universities and students. A rise in tuition fees will surely make more students pause to consider whether a university degree is worth the cost, especially if fees rise higher than £9,535 after the 2025/6 academic year. It seems inevitable that this rise in fees will impact disadvantaged students the most and discourage those from poorer backgrounds from going to university. While the rise in maintenance loans is important to help students cover their living costs, surely a rise in tuition fees will only make universities more elitist and further cement the cycle of social class.