UK govt to hike university tuition in 2025, first time in 8 years

The United Kingdom government led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer will raise university tuition fees in 2025, marking the first hike in eight years.

A report in The Telegraph on Monday, November 4, 2024, said the Education Secretary of the university, Bridget Phillipson, will announce the increase which will see tuition fees rise in line with the Retail Price Index inflation.

The fee rise is projected to come into effect from September next year, meaning that only A-level students, who are currently applying to universities will be affected.

Since 2017, tuition fees have remained unchanged at £9,250.

Meanwhile, it remains unclear which month’s inflation figures will the ruling party choose to link the fees to but matching them to the current rate of 2.7% would result in a rise to about £9,500 from next year.

As suggested by previous reports, the Government may raise tuition fees to £10,500 over the next five years, but ministers don’t want to commit to any hike beyond the next academic year as they consider the complete reform of the current system.

Tuition increase puts UK financial crisis in focus

The development comes amid growing concerns that many institutions are now facing a financial crisis, with 40% of English universities expecting to slump into a deficit this year.

In 2012, the Coalition government tripled tuition fees to £9,000, while fees have only increased after that to hit £9,250 in 2017, where they remain frozen today despite ballooning inflation over the years.

The Russell Group of elite universities has argued that the cap on tuition fees has caused them to incur a loss of about £4,000 per UK student.

At the same time, university finances have also suffered from a dramatic drop in funds from international students following the Tory crackdown on dependent visas.