An increase in university tuition fees in England is expected to be announced for the first time in more than seven years, Sky News understands.
Fees have been frozen at an annual level of £9,250 since the 2017/18 academic year, but the government is expected to lift the cap so they can rise in line with inflation.
That will increase the cost of tuition to £9,500 in October 2025 and £10,500 by 2029.
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It’s expected that Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson will confirm the move in a House of Commons statement later today.
Any such announcement is likely to provoke a strong backlash, given Sir Keir Starmer had pledged to abolish tuition fees when he stood to be Labour leader back in 2020.
The prime minister rowed back on that promise early last year, saying it was no longer affordable because of the “different financial situation” the country was in, and he was choosing to prioritise the NHS.
However at the time he said Labour would set out a “fairer solution” for students if it won the election.
Independent MP Zara Sultana, who lost the Labour whip after rebelling over the two-child benefit cap, posted on X: “The government’s increase to tuition fees is wrong. Students shouldn’t have to pay tuition this year, or any year. It’s time to abolish tuition fees and cancel student debt because education is a public good, not a commodity.”
Universities have been dealing with a funding crisis, largely driven by a huge drop in overseas students.
Rules brought in by Rishi Sunak’s government made it harder for international students, who pay higher fees than British ones, to bring their families with them to the UK.
But Ms Phillipson has recently said universities should seek to manage their own budgets before hoping for a bailout from the taxpayer.
And when she was in opposition, she touted the idea of reducing the monthly repayments “for every single graduate” by changing how the loan is paid back.
Writing in The Times in June 2023 she had said: “Reworking the present system gives scope for a month-on-month tax cut for graduates, putting money back in people’s pockets when they most need it.
“For young graduates this will give them breathing space at the start of their working lives and as they bring up families.”
However the idea didn’t make it into Labour’s 2024 manifesto, which only says that “the current higher education funding settlement does not work for the taxpayer, universities, staff, or students”.
It adds: “Labour will act to create a secure future for higher education and the opportunities it creates across the UK.”
The Coalition government tripled tuition fees to £9,000 in 2012, sparking a huge backlash, particularly against the Lib Dems who had vowed to scrap fees in the 2010 general election campaign.
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