Tuition fees are set to rise to £9,250

This affects current students


From 2017, university tuition fees will rise to £9,250 per year.

Yesterday, the government issued a statement formally setting out the process which will see fees rise above £9,000.

This increase could also apply to students who have already started their course. The fees will continue to increase with inflation in subsequent years.

The inflation-linked rise produces a 2.8% growth, and if this continues, tuition fees over the next few years would rise above £10,000.

The National Union of students and the UCU lecturer’s union have planned protests that will take place in November. The Liberal Democrats have announced that they will force a vote by MP’s to prevent raising the £9,000 limit and that they will fight the plans, “every step of the way.”

Gordon Marsden, Labour’s education spokesman has said, “nothing less than a full debate” in regard to raising the fees  would be sufficient and that the ministers had so far, “neither the guts nor the courtesy”, to have an open debate on their decision to raise university fees.

The government have indicated that this rise this could apply to current students, but this is dependant on the terms of the student contracts in individual universities.

Increases are most likely to occur in Universities where there is a high quality of teaching, which is decided by a new mechanism called the ‘teaching excellence framework.’

If the fee rise is challenged in the House of Commons, there is likely to be a vote by MP’s come autumn.

Angela Rayner, Labour’s shadow education secretary has said, “these further increases in fees will be a barrier to aspiration, making it even more difficult for those from low and middle-income families to get the best education they deserve.”