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Vice-Chancellor update: UK government announcement on fees and loans

Posted on 11 November 2024

An email sent to taught students on Monday 11 November 2024.

Dear students,

As many of you will be aware, the UK government has announced its intention to introduce a one-off uplift in UK tuition fees and maintenance loans for home undergraduate students, in line with inflation. The new fee level of £9,535 for standard full-time courses will apply to home undergraduate students in all years of study at York.

The government has published initial ‘what you need to know’ guidance, acknowledging the intense financial pressure that both students and universities have been experiencing.

With the announcement came important news about student maintenance loans in England. They are currently at their lowest level for nine years. As I have frequently noted, students have been largely ignored by government measures to help combat the big rise in the cost of living over the last few years. That is why York moved so quickly to introduce its own range of cost of living support schemes, set out in our cost of living hub, and we will keep these schemes under review to ensure we can provide support where it is most needed.

The maintenance loan increase is welcome and timely. It will help students to access additional financial support urgently required while studying, though I would like to have seen further support for students from more disadvantaged backgrounds.

I’m aware many of you remain worried about finances, including the proposed increase in fees. No student wants to see their fees increasing, so it’s vital to note that the change will not see students paying more to study upfront; likewise repayments will still not need to be paid until graduate earnings are above a £25,000 threshold. 

Looking beyond the next 12 months 

More generally, I welcome the more supportive tone of the government’s announcement. And it positions the measures set out this week as a first step, with further action to emerge next year following consultation with the sector.

Those next steps will be vital. The measures announced this week won’t take away the financial pressures that universities face. As we look ahead it is important that the cost of relieving these pressures doesn’t fall hard on students. The sector needs more public funding to support undergraduate education. 

And nor have these measures done enough to help students manage the rise in the cost of living we have seen in the last few years. The real value of maintenance loans has been eroded badly by inflation at a time when many families have had to cut back the support they give to family members at university.

With that in mind, I very much welcome the Secretary of State's clear intention to work with universities to forge a future for UK higher education, and one with students at its centre. We will certainly be at the forefront of these discussions with the government to make the case for a genuinely sustainable funding system. 

With best wishes,

Charlie