University fees will climb in 2025 under the new Labour government.

Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson announced that university fees will rise in Autumn 2025. Fees are expected to increase to £9, 535, a £285 rise from the current price.

Phillipson said that “With tuition fees frozen universities have suffered real terms-decline in income.” She added that universities must “spread opportunity” amongst students.

This rise would affect fees for England, and for English students wanting to study in other UK nations. Westminster dictates tuition for England only, all other UK nations set their own prices. The rates are similar in Wales (£9, 250), significantly lower in Northern Ireland (£4, 750) and free in Scotland.

The current freeze on fees that keeps them at £9, 250 expires in 2025. After this it is expected that fees will rise in line with a measure called RPIX. RPIX measures inflation rates excluding housing costs.

The high inflation of the 2020s has affected the value of tuition fees massively. Estimates show that the current £9, 250 fees are only worth £6, 500 in terms of value from 2012 (when the initial cap was set).

Fees are currently fixed under a cap by Theresa May’s Conservative government. This suspended fees from rising above £9, 250. Before this, fees had been raised by the Lib-Dem-Conservative coalition from £3, 000 to £9, 000 which caused much outrage at the time.

The rising cost is expected to aid universities that have been calling for more funding. Increased teaching costs, including staff salaries, led many universities to advocate for higher fees. In September of this year, vice-chancellor of King’s College London, Professor Shitij Kapur said that fees would have to rise to £12, 500 for universities to be able to cover costs.

Universities UK, a group that represents 141 UK universities, published their ‘Strategic Plan 2024 – 2030’, outlining ways that the current problems with universities might be solved. Key to their solutions was the need to ‘secure sustainable funding’. Their proposal sets out how they intend to ‘secure an increase in funding’ and ‘secure increases in public and private investment’.

This rise in fees marks a shift from Keir Starmer’s original position on tuition fees. In 2020, during Starmer’s run to be Labour leader, he vowed to scrap tuition fees. This U-turn has prompted outrage from both the right and left. Tory MP Neil O’Brien wrote on X: ‘Starmer says one thing then does another.’ Whilst MP Zarah Sultana added: ‘The Government’s increase to tuition fees is wrong. Students shouldn’t have to pay tuition this year, or any year. It’s time to abolish tuition fees and cancel student debt because education is a public good, not a commodity.’