Students in England are bracing for another hike in university tuition fees, with costs expected to increase next year. This news is a significant blow to aspiring students and their families, who are already grappling with rising living costs and student loan debt. The Education Secretary said university tuition fees will rise for the first time in eight years to help universities facing “severe financial challenges.” University leaders have warned of significant financial concerns due to frozen tuition fees paid by domestic students and a fall in international students.

In a statement to the Commons on Monday, Ms Phillipson also announced that maintenance loans for university students in England would rise next year, which the Government said will provide students with £414 extra per year. University tuition fees will rise in line with inflation, by 3.1%, and the changes will come into effect from the 2025/26 academic year. For universities, the higher fees are a cash injection to assist with their most immediate financial challenges. However, the announcement only affects fees and loans in the 2025/26 academic year – and vice-chancellors will want to know what the government’s plans are beyond that.

Phillipson said the government would announce further "major reform" for long-term investment in universities in the coming months. She said the government was having to "take the tough decisions needed to put universities on a firmer financial footing". Prime Minister Keir Starmer had said he wanted to abolish tuition fees altogether when he ran for the leadership of the Labour Party in 2020. But in 2023, he said Labour was "likely to move on" from the pledge. In this year's general election campaign, he confirmed he would be doing so as he wanted to prioritize spending on the NHS.

Conservative shadow education secretary Laura Trott called the tuition fee rise “a hike in the effective tax graduates have to pay”. The Office for Students, the higher education regulator in England, warned that 40% of universities have predicted a deficit in this academic year. In July, Phillipson said universities should “manage their budgets” amid calls for the government to bail out struggling institutions. Universities UK has previously suggested tuition fees would need to rise to £12,500 a year to adequately meet teaching costs. But they also acknowledged that asking for that amount would seem "clueless" and "out of touch".

The government hopes that increasing maintenance support will help students with day-to-day living costs like food and accommodation. However, higher tuition fees and increased maintenance loans will mean students need to borrow more to go to university and will leave with more debt. The change comes as universities have been dealing with a funding crisis, largely driven by a huge drop in overseas students. As the cost of living continues to rise, the future of higher education in England remains uncertain. Students and their families are anxiously awaiting clarity on the tuition fee issue, hoping for a more affordable and accessible path to higher education.