Tuition fees will rise with inflation from 2026 onwards, following their first increase since 2017 last year.
This follows forecasts by the Office for Students (OfS) predicting that “43% of institutions will be in deficit without further action to shore up their finances”.
The landmark Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper, published on 20 October 2025, outlines that fees will rise with rates of inflation for at least the next two academic years.
The White Paper aims to hold universities to higher academic standards and ensure post-16 institutions in England are more stabilised and face less financial pressure.
The decision results from careful deliberation over stability and the desire to “halt the long-term erosion of universities’ financial sustainability, following a decade of fee freezes”.
Rising costs for students
Concerns have arisen over how expensive higher education might become for some students wishing to study at English universities in the forthcoming academic years.
First-year UCL home student Louisa told The Cheese Grater, “It’s a crazy amount you’ve got to pay nowadays to be a student and, already, it’s a lot, but the fact that it’s going up is not encouraging.”
Accessibility for low-income students
Simultaneously, the White Paper has stated that its aim is to ensure that disadvantaged students will no longer be priced out of university, by mandating that maintenance loans automatically increase each year alongside increases in tuition fees.
Additionally, in a bid to “make university more accessible, fairer and better value for students”, the UK government will reintroduce ‘targeted maintenance grants’, which do not hold the condition of repayment and may make the decision of attending university more feasible for low-income students.
Impact on international students
While this may reduce the gap in university entrance rates between disadvantaged and better-off students, which is currently at its widest since records began in 2005, the White Paper outlines that the grants will be funded by imposing new additional charges on fees for international students, which may deter some of them from pursuing higher education in England.
2028 onwards
After increasing the fees for the next two academic years, the government aims to introduce legislation allowing fee caps to automatically increase alongside inflation. However, this benefit would only be afforded to universities or institutions that successfully meet “tough new quality thresholds” set by the OfS.
Should a university wish to benefit from greater funding through the ability to charge the maximum fees for their courses, “it is right that they deliver the world-class education students expect”, according to Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson.
Despite a rise in the cost of education, the stated aim of these new reforms is to push for higher standards across English universities and ensure value for money.
Universities would be prevented from charging the maximum fees for their courses if there is no projected value to students, all the while working to bridge the gap between disadvantaged students and higher education.
