DESPITE Keir Starmer once pledging he would abolish tuition fees, the UK Government is set to announce they will be going up from September next year at English universities.
Tuition fees are currently set at £9250 a year and have been at that level since 2017, but there have been calls from university leaders for fees to rise.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has announced fees will rise to £9535 from April next year.
How will it affect me?
If you’re living in Scotland and have plans to study at a Scottish university, then this will not affect you as university tuition is free in this instance.
However, it is not automatic, as you need to apply to the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) to have your tuition fees paid for you.
READ MORE: SNP 'profoundly concerned' over Labour's tax raid on family farms
To be eligible for home fee status and student support, including free tuition, student loans, bursaries, and grants, students must have a ‘relevant connection’ with Scotland, which means they must be “settled” in the UK and “ordinarily resident” in Scotland on the date a course starts.
Westminster only sets fees for England but in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland they are fixed by the devolved governments.
What if I’m from rest of UK and want to study in Scotland?
If you are a student from elsewhere in the UK and wish to study in Scotland, you’ll come under the “rest of UK” fee, which is currently capped at £9250 – the same as in England.
The National has sought clarity from the Scottish Government as to whether the fee for students from the rest of the UK who choose to study in Scotland will rise, but there is currently no suggestion this will happen.
Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth criticised the UK Government for the hike and said education "should not be based on people's ability to pay".
There is a third fee category in Scotland for overseas students which are set by institutions.
Do higher tuition fees mean I’ll pay more?
Not in most cases. Tuition fees are usually paid for you by the Student Loans Company in England and you will only repay the loan afterwards if you earn above a certain threshold.
The amount you repay each year depends on what you earn, not what you have borrowed.
READ MORE: John Curtice responds as poll shows surprising support for Trump
So really, the only people that will be paying more are the ones who manage to clear their loan in full before it gets written off. The time period you have before your loan is written off – which can be up to 40 years – varies depending on when you received your first loan and more information can be found here.
Money Saving Expert founder Martin Lewis has posted a helpful thread on Twitter/X explaining how the news directly impacts you.
IMPORTANT PLS SHARE. It's rumoured the English £9,250 tuition fee cap may be raised this pm for the 1st time in 8yrs, as University's finances are strained. As student finance misunderstandings abound, I've bashed out a few notes to help...
— Martin Lewis (@MartinSLewis) November 4, 2024
1. Higher tuition fees WON'T change…
He believes a much bigger problem than high tuition fees is the fact maintenance loans have not kept pace with inflation.
Phillipson has announced there is set to be an increase to maintenance loans in line with inflation to help with living costs - an increase of £414 per year in 2025/26.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel