17
Accepted
The Government states that the present £9,535 fees are only worth £5,920 in 2012/13 terms,...
Conclusion
The Government states that the present £9,535 fees are only worth £5,920 in 2012/13 terms, a reduction of 38%. Future increases in line with inflation will not reverse that historic reduction. We also know that publicly funded teaching for undergraduate home students costs more to deliver than the income received by HE providers, leaving them reliant on cross- subsidies. This means some higher education providers will continue to struggle in the next few years. Independent HE and the British Universities Finance Directors Group both highlighted the vulnerability of smaller and specialist institutions that are heavily dependent on tuition fee income. (Conclusion, Paragraph 103)
Government Response Summary
The government has increased maximum tuition fees for the 2025/26, 2026/27, and 2027/28 academic years and committed to legislate for automatic future increases to provide long-term certainty and address the real-terms reduction.
Government Response
Accepted
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
After seven years of frozen tuition fee caps, we took immediate action by increasing maximum fees for the 2025/26 academic year by 3.1%. Since then, as part of the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper, we have increased maximum fees for the 2026/27 and 2027/28 academic years by 2.71% and 2.68% respectively. To give the sector long-term certainty over future funding, we have also committed to legislate when parliamentary time allows to increase tuition fee caps automatically for future academic years.
Source
Committee
Education Committee
Report
9th Report - Higher Education and Funding: Threat of Insolvency and International Students
12 May 2026
HC 807
Addressee Bodies
Department for Education
Timeline
Recommendation age
0.2 yrs
Report published
12 May 2026