UK govt raises English tuition fees for first time in eight years

LONDON: Britain´s Labour government on Monday announced that university tuition fees in England will increase for the first time in eight years, as higher education institutions grapple with yawning financial deficits.

The three-percent rise comes as university leaders blame a crackdown on immigration for restricting international student numbers that were already hit by the UK´s departure from the European Union.

The cap on tuition fees for domestic undergraduate students attending English universities has been set at £9,250 ($12,000) since 2017. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson told parliament that the government would raise the figure by £285 to $9,535 from the next academic year.

“Where the Conservatives shirked the hard choices, this government has not hesitated to grip the challenges we face and take the tough decisions to restore stability to higher education,” she said.

Labour, which swept to power in July, has blamed the Tories for leaving it a dire inheritance across various sectors including the economy, health service and prisons. Last week the centre-left party announced major tax hikes to raise £40 billion, in its first budget in almost 15 years.

University tuition fees were first introduced in Britain by former prime minister Tony Blair´s Labour government in the late 1990s. In 2012, the Conservatives tripled the maximum that universities could charge to £9,000. It then kept the cap at £9,250 for seven years, despite soaring inflation.