Sheffield University will raise tuition fees to £9,250

Over 1,000 signed a petition against the increase


Yesterday, The University of Sheffield announced it would be opting into TEF and raising tuition fees to £9,250 for full time UK and EU students.

Despite the great efforts of the Students’ Union Officers and a petition of over 1000 signatures,  new students joining the University in the 2017/18 academic year will face the disappointing tuition increase.

The decision to raise the fees is due to the University’s participation in the first year of the Government’s Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), designed to monitor and assess teaching standings across the country.

The University has confirmed that the rate of tuition fees for all full-time undergraduate courses for students admitted between 2012-2013 and 2016-2017 academic years is set at £9,000 and will remain at this for the duration of each student’s existing programme of study.

In a statement to the Tab, SU President Dom Trendall said: “We are extremely disappointed that the University of Sheffield has opted to partake in the flawed Teaching Excellence Framework and raise tuition fees for students.

“We are, however, immensely proud of the campaign that we have been running, led by our Education Officer, Ali Day.

“Whilst this is not the outcome we wanted, we take some comfort in the fact that we have frozen fees for current students, saving them collectively in excess of saving them collectively in excess of £7,000,000.

“Our campaign against the TEF will continue, with our focus being placed on the upcoming boycott of the National Student Survey.”

Commenting on the decision, Vice-Chancellor Keith Burnett said: “I will continue to do my best to work with students and others to lobby government and convince the wider public to review our current system of funding in the interests of students and the country as a whole.

“I will continue to express our shared view that the TEF metrics as proposed do not measure teaching excellence. Your University will also continue to seek new ways to offer an excellent education to students from all backgrounds, including through industry-sponsored degree apprentices, scholarships and bursaries.”