Tuition fees to rise in England for first time in eight years

The Education Secretary has announced a rise in tuition fees in England for the first time in eight years, starting from April 2025.

It comes after warnings from university leaders over significant financial concerns due to frozen domestic tuition fees – currently £9,250 per year – as well as a decrease in international students.

Addressing MPs in the House of Commons on Monday afternoon, education secretary Bridget Phillipson said the increase to to £9,535, per year was needed to secure universities’ financial future. She added that maintenance loans available to graduates will increase to help students cope with living costs.

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She said the goverment would 'fix the foundations' of higher education so that students can benefit for 'generations to come'.

“That is why I am announcing today that in line with the forecast set out in the Budget last week, from April 2025 we will be increasing the maximum cap for tuition fees, in line with inflation, to £9,535, an increase of £285 per academic year," she continued.

“Increasing the fee cap has not been an easy decision, but I want to be crystal clear that this will not cost graduates more each month as they start to repay their loans.

“Universities are responsible for managing their own finances and must act to remain sustainable. But members across this house will agree that it is no use keeping tuition fees down for future students if the universities are not there for them to attend.”

She also announced students will get an extra £414 per year for the 2025/2026 academic year.

She told the Commons: “It is no use keeping tuition fees down for future students if the universities are not there for them to attend, nor if students can’t afford to support themselves while they study.

“So I can confirm today that we will boost support for students with living costs by increasing maximum maintenance loans in line with inflation, giving them an additional £414 a year in 25/26.”

She added that a lower fee limit of £5,760 will be introduced for foundation degrees.

The previous government raised the cap on university tuition fees in England to £9,000 per year in 2012, but it has remained at £9,250 for domestic undergraduate students since 2017. Universities UK (UUK), representing 141 universities, recently urged the Government to increase teaching funding in England by linking tuition fees to inflation and reinstating the teaching grant.

UUK's blueprint, published in September, warned that teaching funding per student in England was at its "lowest point since 2004" and the current £9,250 fee would have been worth £5,924 in 2012/13. It further suggested that any increase should be accompanied by additional support to help with study costs – including reintroducing grants for the poorest students.

In a June report, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) indicated that if tuition fees were adjusted for RPIX inflation, students could see fees increase by 2.1% to £9,450 in 2025, eventually reaching £10,500 by 2029. Meanwhile, King’s College London’s vice-chancellor, Professor Shitij Kapur, has previously mentioned that universities need between £12,000 and £13,000 annually in fees to cover their costs.

Last month, Home Office data revealed a sharp 16% fall in visa applications from international students – who are often charged much higher fees – for the July to September period.

New restrictions since January prevent most international students from bringing family members to the UK unless they're on specific postgraduate research programmes or courses with government-funded scholarships.

May's financial overview by the Office for Students (OfS) highlighted concerns, predicting that in 2023/24 nearly 40 per cent of English universities could be operating at a loss.

Before this afternoon's speech by Ms Phillipson, the Prime Minister's official spokesperson said: "As she will set out, the Government inherited a higher education sector facing severe financial challenges."

He added: "Universities have suffered a significant real-terms decline in their income and the gap between disadvantaged students and their peers is the highest on record.

"The Government is determined to take the tough decisions necessary to put universities on a secure footing so that in turn they can deliver more opportunities for students and growth for our economy."