It was announced at the end of October that tuition fees will rise again across UK universities starting from 2026. According to the BBC, tuition fees will continue to increase every year from 2026 in line with inflation. The exact amount tuition fees will rise by is unknown, but if it follows current rates, fees could be as high as £9,900 for those enrolling in 2026/2027. So what does this mean for everyone already enrolled at university?

“Will this continuous rise mean less students can afford to enrol at university?”

With University UK stating that this rise in fees is a “much needed reset for the university system”, this increase, unfortunately, isnothing new. Just this September, fees rose from £9250 to £9535. While this increase is supposedly meant to stabilise the university funding model, what does it mean for those hoping to enrol next year and the years to come? After researching, the government have stated that the maximum loan can only be charged for universities providing “high-quality teaching”. This somewhat, ambiguous term, doesn’t really provide an insight into what is classified as “high-quality teaching”. Surely, all universities are expected to provide a quality education, worthy of the thousands students spend every year?

Elitism is a prevalent issue across UK universities, and tuition fees increasing for universities providing “higher quality education”, could deepen this already embedded issue. The Independent reported that 42% of Oxbridge students come from private schools, and The Sutton Trust found that a disproportionate number of students from private schools attend Russell Group Universities. With the tuition fees increasing, this could mean students from lower income backgrounds cannot afford to go to a top university due to the higher fees. This in turn may further broaden the issue of Redbrick elitism across the UK, with those “higher quality” universities having the privilege of charging higher fees. 88% of students interviewed agreed that some universities being more expensive will create elitism within the UK university system.

After surveying a number of students at Cardiff University, it was clear that the increase in fees will impact what university people choose to go to. 88% said that having a higher tuition fee will ultimately impact the university they attend, with one student stating “A significantly higher tuition fee would definitely impact my choice of university”. However, oth- ers felt that if the quality of education was high, they would consider paying higher fees;

“I am happy to pay more if the extra money I am paying will benefit me and improve the quality of my degree.”

In regards to student life, 83% of those interviewed who don’t have a job at university would consider getting a part-time job to sup-port themselves financially. This raises another issue of part-time work while at university: could having to work to afford university fees have an impact on your degree?

A benefit of tuition fee increases, could be more stability across all UK universities. The Tab stated that the rise in tuition fees is supposed to help with job cuts and the cutting of courses. Cardiff University experienced its own plethora of issues last year, including job cuts and course cuts being rife. These fee increases could potentially help this from happening again, giving students the peace of mind that their course won’t be cut within the next few years.

So far, all of this is speculation. No one is sure how these tuition fee increases will impact the university system or student life. With some students saying they would pay more for higher quality education, maybe the government’s hopes of sorting out the university system will come true. With elitism across universities and more students having to work as important concerns, only time will tell if these issues will arise.