Current students at Leeds Beckett University will not face rise in tuition fees

Leeds Beckett University has confirmed it will not be increasing tuition fees for current students, in line with the upcoming rise from £9,250 to £9,535 in the next academic year (2025-2026).

The Times Higher Education reached out to all major English universities to gather their positions on implementing the £285 annual fee increase—introduced by Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson earlier this month—and its potential financial implications.

Leeds Beckett University announced it had “notified [its] current home students that their fees will remain at £9,250 for the duration of their undergraduate studies”, with the increase being applied to new entrants from 2025 only, according to The Times Higher Education.

Amid concerns over student contracts and fairness, only a small number of universities have committed to applying the full revised English tuition fee for both new and returning undergraduates.

Leeds Trinity is part of a group of universities, including Brighton, Manchester, Portsmouth, and Winchester, that have confirmed their decisions to apply the fee increase to all students.

Universities who have confirmed they will not be increasing fees for existing students alongside Leeds Beckett are the University of Reading and Bournemouth University.

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The majority of universities either said the issue remains under review or did not respond to requests for comment.

Many institutions are concerned that clauses in student contracts related to potential fee increases may not hold up in a legal challenge or comply with guidance from the Competition and Markets Authority.

Most current students enrolled under the previous government, which explicitly ruled out fee hikes, although universities regularly update their terms and conditions.

For the past two years, securing a fee increase has been a primary focus for sector leaders.

Although it will leave the matter up to individual institutions to interpret, the Office for Students estimates that the fee increase would generate an additional £371 million in revenue for the sector.