University tuition fees in England will increase every year in line with inflation from 2026 onwards, the government has announced.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson confirmed the increase for the next two years, and promised legislation which would make it happen automatically every year after that.
Maintenance loans will also increase yearly in line with inflation.
Speaking in Parliament, Phillipson said “charging full fees will be conditional on high quality teaching”, and that only those universities providing strong outcomes for students would be able to charge the maximum fees.
Universities which fall below the quality threshold set by the regulator in England, the Office for Students, will not be able to charge the new maximum and risk having a cap imposed on the number of students they can recruit.
Tuition fees in England this academic year are £9,535, having increased for the first time in more than a decade last year.
The inflation measure used – the Retail Price Index minus mortgage payments, or RPIx – is likely to be the one used for future increases.
That inflation rate is likely to fluctuate before next year’s increase, so it is not yet clear what fees students starting university in 2026 will be charged. If it was done at the current rate, fees would rise by approximately £400 a year, to over £9,900.
Universities UK, which represents 141 universities, said the plans offer “a much-needed reset for our university system”.
“It makes clear that universities are a huge national asset, rightly admired around the world. We need them to be in great shape if we want national renewal,” chief executive Vivienne Stern said.
Raising fees in line with inflation will “help to halt the long-term erosion of universities’ financial sustainability, following a decade of fee freezes”, she added.
But University and College Union general secretary Jo Grady said the government had “doubled down on the disastrous tuition-fees funding model, which created the crisis the sector is currently facing”.
The union published analysis earlier this month which suggested universities had collectively announced more than 12,000 job cuts in the last year.
Prof Ian Dunn, provost at Coventry University, said the proposed increases were a “good thing” for universities, but added that “under no circumstances will this solve the problem”.
“From a university perspective, it adds a little income and will alleviate a little of the pressure,” he said.
“But it will not in itself solve the financial situation universities are in right now.”
Coventry student Katie, who wants to be a teacher, says she finds her student loan daunting, and that it is likely to “always follow” her.
“I don’t even think I’ll be able to pay it off ever,” she said.
“It’s not going to happen, I know it’s not.”
Overall, there is no limit on the number of university places in England, apart from for a handful of regulated courses like medicine.
To be able to charge maximum fees, universities will be assessed on the additional value they add to a student’s academic journey – although there are no details of how that would work in practice, given the majority of students now graduate with either a first class degree or a 2:1.
Those standards are under consultation, and it’s not clear when they will be introduced to replace the current teaching and excellence framework.
A similar approach is already in place to measure the performance of schools, based on Year 6 Key Stage 2 tests (Sats) and GCSE results, although it is not easy to understand or use by parents.
Details of the proposed maintenance grants for some students on some courses by the end of this parliament are not expected until the autumn Budget on 26 November.
The government’s post-16 skills and higher education white paper also says that, from autumn 2026, a new Lifelong Learning Entitlement will open up tuition fee loans to anyone studying courses at the level equivalent to the first and second year of university.
There is an expectation from government that universities will collaborate with further education colleges to make it easier for students to move from one to another to continue their studies.
The changes announced on Monday only apply to England, as education is devolved across the rest of the UK. Tuition fees in Wales were increased last year to the same level as England, £9,535, a few weeks after the announcement for England was made.
Tuition fees in Northern Ireland were £4,750 in 2024-25, with the economy minister there ruling out any increases above the price of inflation in May.
Scottish students do not pay any tuition fees to go to university in Scotland.
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