Tuition Fee Rise Leaves Students “Dishevelled”

Ben Luca assesses how the £285 tuition fee increase could cause further problems for a fledgling Labour government. 

New and returning students are set to pay £285 more a year from next September as tuition fees are increased to £9,535, undermining the Labour government’s popularity with its traditional student base. 

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson announced the tuition fee hike this week as the first step in supporting universities, which have been struggling financially over past months. The 3.1% rise is in line with the RPIX estimated inflation rise. The government has not ruled out further increases in the future, with some sources expecting tuition fees to rise to £10,680 by 2029. 

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson MP. Image credit: Richard Townshend, via Wikimedia Commons

One Jesus College student described being “dishevelled” by the news of the rise, disappointed in a move that he would have “expected to come from the Tories”

Although the £285 increase is not nearly as steep as the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition’s £6,000 increase in 2010, raising tuition fees has been a politically contentious topic. Many will recall how Liberal Democrat voters punished the party in the subsequent 2015 election. Despite hinting the rise could be a possibility during the recent election, this move has not helped young voters’ ambivalence towards the new Labour government. 

One Jesus College student described being “dishevelled” by the news of the rise, disappointed in a move that he would have “expected to come from the Tories”. Although it is widely accepted that universities have been struggling in recent years due to inflation, Cambridge students have found this difficult to reconcile with the wealth of some Cambridge colleges. Another Jesus College student expressed dismay at the increased debt he would face after university, believing that university “just seems to set you back now”, when compared with other higher educational opportunities. 

Only a few of the interviewed students understood that student loans would also be rising by £414 to give additional support to students, or that the Cambridge Student Union was pushing the University to provide greater financial support. This suggests the government’s communications are struggling to reach this crucial student demographic. 

The media has paid little attention to this loan increase, however. Many Cambridge students, such as those interviewed at Jesus College, have been left feeling that a university education is no longer viable even with government support. This is unlikely to be good news for a fledgling Labour government, which has struggled to maintain young voters’ excitement.