UK govt raises English tuition fees for first time in 8 years

Britain's Labour government on Monday announced that university tuition fees in England will increase for the first time in eight years, as higher education institutions grapple with yawning financial deficits.

The three-per cent rise comes as university leaders blame a crackdown on immigration for restricting international student numbers that were already hit by the UK's departure from the European Union.

The cap on tuition fees for domestic undergraduate students attending English universities has been set at £9,250 ($12,000) since 2017.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson told parliament that the government would raise the figure by £285 to $9,535 from the next academic year.

"Where the Conservatives shirked the hard choices, this government has not hesitated to grip the challenges we face and take the tough decisions to restore stability to higher education," she said.

Labour, which swept to power in July, has blamed the Tories for leaving it a dire inheritance across various sectors including the economy, health service and prisons.

Last week the centre-left party announced major tax hikes to raise £40 billion, in its first budget in almost 15 years.

University tuition fees were first introduced in Britain by former prime minister Tony Blair's Labour government in the late 1990s.

In 2012, the Conservatives tripled the maximum that universities could charge to £9,000. It then kept the cap at £9,250 for seven years, despite soaring inflation.

Universities UK (UUK), which represents 141 British higher education institutions, recently called on ministers to increase funding for teaching in England by linking tuition fees to inflation.

In September, it warned that all of its members were "feeling the crunch" from restrictions on visas for international students.

Typically, international students pay more in tuition fees than their domestic counterparts and have become a lucrative source of income for many institutions.

But the Tories under Rishi Sunak slapped restrictions on overseas student visas, banning many from bringing their families, as part of a crackdown on record levels of immigration.

In the first four months of 2024, there were 30,000 fewer applications from overseas than in the same period in 2023, according to official statistics.

Universities have been warning for months about the effect on their finances, with fears that shortfalls could see them slash courses and force some to close altogether.

Sally Mapstone, president of UUK, told the group's conference in September that the current deficit in the sector was £1.7 billion for teaching and £5 billion for research.

The head of King's College London, Shitij Kapur, has said that fees should now be between £12,000 and £13,000 if they had kept up with inflation.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer had pledged to scrap tuition fees when he ran for the Labour leadership in 2020.

The devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have policy making powers over education and set their own rates.

In Scotland, most Scottish students do not have to pay to attend a Scottish university.