University fees to increase from September 2025

So, as I said, there is little incentive for the government to add VAT to university fees.
For the vast majority of students, it will simply be another expense for the government to bear, and for the wealthier or overseas students it will simply drive them away.
You've just proved my point nicely. It isn't going to happen.

“Friend of mine does that - 4 day week, free travel, shifts to suit, great holiday allowance and 75k a year. He's just applied for Eurostar which is just under 100k for an even better package - but you need to also speak French.“

Hehe, I also have a friend who has just applied for Eurostar. I guess free holidays to Paris/Brussels for the whole family is a good incentive.

“Adding VAT would only really affect overseas students and those from families already wealthy enough to pay home fees up front.”

Yes sure, because if overseas students are even less likely to come our unis will do so well, won’t they. And all people with enough cash to upsticks will leave too, it is going to be absolutely great for the rest of us staying back and supporting the sinking ship.

Has masses of time to pursue his other interests, it's not a job you have to take home with you.

It most certainly is a job that you will take home with you and which you will have to live with for ever more as soon as someone decides to end their life in front of your train. As has happened to my BIL twice.

Not as alarming as the number of people who don't understand how student finance works. There is no incentive for the government to introduce VAT on university fees since the government effectively pay university fees themselves. Adding VAT would only really affect overseas students and those from families already wealthy enough to pay home fees up front.
The current rise in university fees is basically the government giving (a tiny bit) more money to universities for each home student, since most students won't pay anything more than they already would have.

https://www.gov.uk/youth-mobility/eligibility

Yet Sir Keir is still dragging his feet with the EU?! Ridiculous behaviour from Labour, just as bad as the Tories! If not worse.
They clearly want to trap our own youth here because it is shite for them and they must know it.

I want my DC to try other options to expand their horizon and are not trapped here. Studying abroad builds resilience and flexibility and will give them the courage to choose the best country to live and work in for their own personal circumstances. They may come back or they may not. Given the toxic political culture here, I feel obliged now to give them those options and learn another language fluently. If you want to be in tech for example Switzerland is an excellent option or engineering cars/alternative forms of energy in Germany.
Depends on what they want to do. If they want to study Classics then the U.K. would be good and if they want to become an academic afterwards, I would be suggesting the US. I am not going to limit their options to one country. The world is their oyster and if they aren’t valued here but are elsewhere, that is where they are going.

look at the basic tax rates, the housing crises, the failing governments, social problems and the growth outlook

Sounds like the UK to me.

Who claimed that life is rosy in Europe? But despite things not being rosy, they still don't fleece their youth for education. Strange people 🤷‍♀️

I said this as soon as VAT on private education was announced. It’s alarming how many people do not understand how VAT works. As with all of these policies it will end up adversely affecting the people that need the money most.

There was loads of outrage re Plan 5 and extortionate interest rates. We were expecting Labour to sort that out! Cost of living and rents and interest rates have increased massively, Labour are doing nothing zero zilch to help students and families. If you are middle class in this country now and don’t work in the state sector you are screwed.

I don't recall such outrage when Sunak lowered the thresholds, then froze them AND increased interest rates, these changes really did increase the monthly amounts paid and have negatively affected affordability.

there is an awful lot of faux anger in many posts.

Plus how do we keep Uni's viable? higher taxes? which ones?

Those recommending University courses in mainland Europe should note that the University experience in eg Germany and the Netherlands is totally different to that in the UK.
There is little or no pastoral care, most courses accept all who apply with minimum grades and as a result there is a huge failure/drop out/repeat a year rate. Twenty one year olds graduating with a BA are few and far between.

In the cities, there is a much higher proportion of students living at home with parents and relying on friendships made at school. Even if the course is taught in English, social life is in the native language so requires a high degree of fluency. Students can live in foreign student bubbles but the high failure/drop out rates rates mean that friendships made in year one rarely survive until the end. You can end up with no mates by Year 3. I know of several UK students who have transferred back to UK universities as a result.

Despite the above, the low fees and overseas experience may be a reasonable option when compared with lower ranking UK universities. But courses at higher ranked UK universities are popular with those Northern European students who can afford them because they are rightly perceived as representing good value for money. Those are fewer post Brexit and that is why most Northern European governments are pushing hard for European students to pay UK rather than overseas student fees.

And for those claiming that life in Germany, Netherlands etc is all rosy - look at the basic tax rates, the housing crises, the failing governments, social problems and the growth outlook. The grass on the other side of the fence is not always greener.

And I’ll wait to see if the NHS improves, even slightly, following the increase. I suspect not.

“I know I pity people who still believes in politicians. I tend trust to trust more the ones that are straight assholes than wolves in sheep clothes like KS. At least you know where you stand .
Do not get me started about trusting them with everything like education, health and economy? Very risky.”

@dottiehens - I have come to realise that in other civilised countries politicians do not USE education and health as political footballs to the same extent as they do here. It is pretty much atypical. Health is becoming more of a political urgency in some places due to an ageing population/increasing chronic ill health for many and increasing & expensive health care options, but education is not made to be so political in many other European countries. They just do not have as many problems in that regard as we do.

Student debt now does not affect credit rating but it does affect mortgage affordability assessment. Less take home pay translates to less ability to raise a bigger mortgage because you obviously can’t repay as much. Couple that with future nursery fees, this debt will trap the next generation even more. And yes it’s not the uni fees per se, it’s interest on the entire loan at the moment that is the problem.

So if you are properly rich your kids need no loan at all as many would pay upfront or pay off straight after uni (having invested in high yield interest in this climate during the uni years). If like me, you don’t want them to have debt but you are expected to massively top up maintenance and have 4 DC then other countries could be a better option. If they can work there due to visa requirements.
I would move to Scotland and work there for a few years if I had to. For several DC it might make have made sense.

Pretending these loans growing to 80k plus for many are not an issue is disingenuous. It would have put me off studying entirely.

My DS is a plumber owns his own company
My Nieces and Nephews
An Aircraft Mechanic
Catering Manager
Housing Officer
And the youngest is in the RAF just promoted to Corporal and has just spent 6 months in the Falkland Islands servicing Land Rovers
None of these are dead end jobs, all are well paid

I wonder how long until VAT is added to uni fees.

I remember the justification for uni fees being introduced in the first place.

Politicians will spin the rhetoric to what ever suits.

I know I pity people who still believes in politicians. I tend trust to trust more the ones that are straight assholes than wolves in sheep clothes like KS. At least you know where you stand .
Do not get me started about trusting them with everything like education, health and economy? Very risky.

As Ian Hislop said on HIGNFY 'Labour government redistributes wealth. What a huge surprise'

I am a lifelong Labour supporter and I am very happy and agree with pretty much everything they have done so far including this on uni fees. The universities need more money and this will have very little actual impact on students. Student loan debt doesn't affect credit rating or mortgage affordability and is basically a graduate tax in all but name. You don't even need to pay it if you don't earn enough. I really can't see the problem apart from that maybe it didn't go far enough.

The junior Dr strike was disabling the NHS and costing far more than the settlement. It was eminently sensible to agree a settlement asap. It was completely stupid and counterproductive for the Tories to let it drag on as it did.

You must live in La La land if you think most people have these choices

Pay upfront! Most people struggle to pay their parental contribution to maintenance it is especially with more than one child.

What European countries just let uncle Tom Cobley and all come there and study for free?? Most people do not conveniently have dual nationality of another country

Whatever world you are living in it's not one I am familiar with.

Not to mention that junior doctors pay tax too - so there’s a percentage of that headline figures that boomerangs right back into the coffers.

Because unbelievably for some they wish to study for the love of a subject and it isnt about getting rich.

My DD recognises her chosen passion is never going to earn her Uber bucks but there’s nothing she wants to spend her life doing more. Since buying a house is probably going to be out of reach for her anyway I think she had a point.

There are no loans available to English students applying to study in the RoI. Tuition fees have just been reduced to €2000 pa though. DD is at Trinity College Dublin and whilst accommodation is scarce (and expensive) general student expenses are way less than the UK - public transport/societies/ etc.

I’d argue more fundamentally the household income thresholds need to be looked at. The 25k or lower which gets the max maintenance loan (England) would be more like £35k or so if inflation adjusted and the £62k (?) above which only the min loan is available more around the £90k mark. Moving those thresholds would be a significant benefit.