UK varsities to raise fees in 2025 after eight-year cap

University fees in the UK are set to increase in 2025, breaking an eight-year cap on the rates for domestic students.

Fees for domestic undergraduate students have been capped at £9,250 per year in the United Kingdom since 2017.

UK universities have been calling for fees, which remain their main income source, to rise and ease pressure on their budgets.

The UK’s department for education says the cap for full-time student fees will now go up by £285, putting the max payable fee at £9,535.

It said the maximum cap for part-time student fees will go up by £210 making the yearly maximum fee limit cost £7,145.

The maximum cap for accelerated student fees is also set to go up by £340 making the yearly maximum fee limit cost £11,440.

The inflation-linked increase, set to take effect in October 2025, was approved by ministers after warnings of a deepening financial crisis in the UK’s university sector.

Bridget Phillipson, the secretary of state for education, said the UK government will implement a parallel increase to student maintenance loans by providing up to £414 extra for the 2025/2026 academic year.

She said this will serve to support students from the lowest-income families.

Addressing members of parliament, Phillipson echoed that significant financial concerns have resulted from frozen domestic tuition fees.

“Universities have suffered a significant real-time decline in their income,” the minister of state said.

“Increasing the fee cap has not been an easy decision, but I want to be crystal clear that this will not cost graduates more each month as they start to repay their loans.

“Universities are responsible for managing their finances and must act to remain sustainable. But members across this house will agree that it is no use keeping tuition fees down for future students if the universities are not there for them to attend.”

Lately, foreign nationals have been on the receiving end of some policy changes that have also impacted the finances of UK universities.

In September 2024, the amount a foreign national must show as “proof of funds” to study in the UK was increased.

Foreign nationals have also been banned from bringing family members to live with them while they study in the UK.