Uni fees to rise

[dearydeary]

This was reported yesterday but barely covered by the news.

Well, we have treated all the international students like criminals and included them in migration figures, so no surprise there.

Let's penslise the students who keep universities afloat. The incentives for international students to study in UK are rapidly dwindling and this just adds to it. Ususl batshit Labour policy unless their aim is to reduce the number of universities in UK, in which case it makes sense.

The issue is that universities aren’t ‘being kept afloat’ by anyone at the moment. Keeping home fees at more or less the same since 2012 means universities are teaching UK students at a loss. It’s not sustainable.

This means huge debts for UK kids due to poor policy making.

Slipped in the news under the cover of Andrew debacle.

Why is the news not discussing this when they went on and on about winter fuels fees.

This is significant for young people.

It's only in line with inflation. Remind me how much it rose under previous governments?

International students already pay more than domestic ones so targeting this group is just usual Labour policy ie reducing the number who actually pay what they need to.
They will be using "broadest shoulders" next to describe international students.

Like I said, the only reason this makes sense is if they are actively trying to close some universities.

I just spotted this too. Its a bit of a bait and switch on those who have just started uni who took the increase this year and change to the student loan repayment plan. It's not just that the fees (and maintenance loan) will rise with inflation, but that the interest on the loans is increased.

Yes, major changes!

Why are individuals not concerned?

Where is the NUS?

My ds will go to uni next year. This isn't welcome news for us but it is logical.

Universities cannot continue to make a loss. Their funding needs to be adequate for them to continue so I think the change was inevitable.

International students ARE migrants. They absolutely should be included in migration figures. The vast majority of migration is legal migration but if you want to look properly at migration levels you have to include all migration and properly assess whether they are beneficial to the country (as opposed to the businesses making money from bringing them to the uk). Some might be, some might well not be. Some colleges are little more than immigration routes.

Universities set their own fees for international students. This is about fees for home students.

They pay double what home students pay, and most go back. Some dodgy unis misuse the system and Labour is rightly taking action against them, but most don't.

What are your suggestions then? What other sector has been prevented from increasing their prices since 2012?

But part of the decision is about possibly levying a tax on international students to pay for ",grants" for UK students.

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/sep/29/labour-to-bring-back-maintenance-grants-for-students-on-priority-courses

It’s not really debt though, is it?

it’s not like a loan or a credit card where if you don’t pay there are consequences. It’s a small % of your wage taken out of your wages before it hits your account and it’s written off after a certain period of time from graduation.

Exactly this.
They contribute far, far more to the economy than they take in the short time they are here.

The fact they pay to immigrate doesn’t mean they should be excluded from discussion about immigration.

Well interestingly Maryin Lewis is rowing back his rhetoric on this

Okay?

I have a student loan. I’m aware of the terms and what happens. It’s not the same as my credit card debt.

The current loan is written off after 40 years....so that is the majority of your working life

Interesting thread here

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/higher_education/5429810-martin-lewis-changing-tack-on-he-finance-considerations?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=share

Why have a debt at all then? Especially if for many the final sum is written off? Why not just switch to new starts having an extra tax?

But the repayment terms are much, much better than any other loan that you will get. It’s a tiny % of your salary. Minuscule.

The alternative we could have is an American system where higher education costs hundreds of thousands, and the loans are massive and burdensome and a barrier to ever progressing to buying a home. I wouldn’t bite the hand that feeds you!

It's only in line with inflation. What makes you think the universities' costs don't rise with inflation? How are they supposed to pay staff if the fees keep being held at the same level as 2012?

I have a year 13 DC applying this year, so it will affect us.

But university fees for home students are far too low, it’s not remotely sustainable, and they really need to go up much higher.

At a fee-paying primary school, you probably wouldn’t get much change from £15k per year for 4 -11 year olds! Are we really saying it costs 6k per year less than that to teach adults at university level?

Education is expensive, unfortunately. Someone needs to pay for it, whether government or students themselves. But poorly funded education doesn’t benefit anyone.