Universities in England are set to raise their tuition fee in line with inflation, from next year. Education Secretary Bridget Philipson confirmed the increase for the next two years. She also promised legislation which would make it happen automatically every year after the two years. Additionally, the maintenance loans will also increase yearly in line with inflation.
Philipson, speaking in the Parliament, said universities can charge full fee if they can provide quality teaching. Only universities showing good results for students would be able to charge the maximum fee, she said.
The universities failing to reach the quality threshold set by the regulator in England, the Office for Students, will not be able to charge the maximum fee and will have to limit themselves to a cap imposed on the number of students they can enroll.
At present, the tuition fee in England is £9,535, which has been raised in 2024 for the first time in more than a decade. As the inflation rate is likely to fluctuate before next year’s increase, the final figure is not yet clear. If done at the current rate, the fee is likely to rise approximately by£400 a year, taking it to over £9,900.
The announcement is expected to bring some relief to the universities in England which have been reeling under financial crisis. University and College Union general secretary JO Grady blamed the government for the crisis. He said that the authorities had doubled down on the tution-fee funding model leading to the crisis. The Universities collectively announced more than 12,000 job cuts last year due to the crisis.
The changes announced would apply only to England. It varies in different places in rest of UK.