Unis have started announcing fees higher than £9,000

Some universities have started announcing fees over the current £9,000 a year limit before Parliament has finishing debates rules which could see them rise.

The websites of Durham, Kent and Royal Holloway have all started advertising courses with tuition fees of £9,250, a full £250 over the current limit.

MPs debated the tuition fee rise in the House of Commons yesterday after the government announced plans to link teaching quality with increases in fees.

A Liberal Democrat education spokesman ironically called the move was “disgraceful arrogance from some universities” .

The fees advertised were for the academic year 2017/18, which applications will open for in September.

There have been regular protests since fees were increased to £9,000 a year in 2012

UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: “Those universities foolish enough to advertise higher fees will be doing nothing to quell concerns from students and parents that they are simply after as much cash as they can get.”

The £9,250 fees on the Royal Holloway site

Under the Tories’ plans, English unis would be allowed to increase their fees with inflation as long as they met a minimum “good-quality teaching” threshold. For 2017, this works out at around £250 per year, but there is no limit to how high they could climb.

The fees on Durham’s website

If the current rate of inflation holds, freshers starting uni in 2020 will be paying over £10k a year.

North of the border, Scottish students attending Scottish unis still don’t pay tuition fees and Northern Irish students’ dues are capped at £3,925.

In response to the news, the NUS offered a vague statement from their vice president who said:”A further fee rise will have a damaging impact on students and it is frustrating to learn universities were lobbying the minister for the fee rise before the reforms were published.”

In a statement, Royal Holloway said: “Royal Holloway, University of London has been clear to prospective students that any increase in fees for entry in 2017/18 is subject to ministerial approval.  Those young people are making decisions about their future now.  By providing them with the best possible information we have at this time, our goal is to protect them from unwelcome surprises should an increase in the coming months be approved.

“Our university was founded on the principles of access to knowledge and education for all who can benefit. We remain true to those principles and offer an extensive range of financial support, scholarships and bursaries to scholars who need it most.”