Tuition fees in the United Kingdom: Difference between revisions

Tuition fees were first introduced across the entire United Kingdom in September 1998 under the Labour Government as a means of funding tuition to undergraduate and postgraduate certificate students at universities, with students being required to pay up to £1,000 a year for tuition.^[1][2] However, as a result of the establishment of devolved national administrations for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, different arrangements now exist with regard to the charging of tuition fees in each of the countries of the United Kingdom.

History of Tuition Fees in the UK

In May 1996, Conservative Prime Minister John Major commissioned an inquiry, led by Sir Ron Dearing, into the funding of British higher education over the next 20 years. It estimated additional funding of almost £2 billion would be needed for the period, including £350 million in 1998-9 and £565 million in 1999-2000, in order to expand student enrolment, provide more support for part-time students and ensure an adequate infrastructure.^[3]

In response, the teaching and higher education bill was passed into law on 16 July 1998. In addition to introducing tuition fees, it established General Teaching Councils in England and Wales, introduced measures to reform the teaching profession and gave a provision for certain young workers to have time off for study.^[4] The act introduced a means-tested method of payment for students based on the amount of money their families earned.^[5] Starting with 1999-2000, maintenance grants for living expenses would also be replaced with loans and paid back at a rate of 9 percent of a graduate's income above £10,000.^[4]

Following devolution in 1999, the newly devolved governments in Scotland and Wales brought in their own acts on tuition fees. The Scottish Parliament established, and later abolished a graduate endowment to replace the fees.^[6] Wales introduced maintenance grants of up to £1,500 in 2002, a value which has since risen to over £5000.^[7]

In England, tuition fee caps rose with the Higher Education Act 2004. Under the Act, universities in England could begin to charge variable fees of up to £3000 a year for students enrolling on courses as from the academic year of 2006-07 or later. This was also introduced in Northern Ireland in 2006-07 and introduced in Wales in 2007-08. In 2009-10 the cap rose to £3225 a year to take account of inflation.^[8] Following the Browne Review in 2010, the cap was contraversially raised to £9000 a year, sparking large student protests in London. A judicidal review against the raised fees failed in 2012.^[9]

Further adjustments were put forth in the 2015 budget, with a proposed fee increase in line with inflation from the 2017-18 academic year onwards, and the planned scrapping of maintenance grants from September 2016.^[10] The changes were not debated by the Third Delegated Legislation Committee in January 2016, rather than in the Commons. The lack of a vote on the matter has drawn criticism, as by circumventing the commons the measures "automatically become law". ^[11]

Current System

In England

In England, tuition fees are capped at £9,000 a year, with around a third of all courses charging the full amount. A loan of the same size is available for most universities, although students of private institutions are only eligible for £6,000 a year loans. Maintenance loans are available for living costs, and these are means tested.^[12]

Many commentators suggested that the 2012 rise in tuition fees in England would put poorer students off applying to university.^[13] However, the gap between rich and poor students has slightly narrowed (from 30.5% in 2010 to 29.8% in 2013) since the introduction of the higher fees.^[14] This may be because universities have used tuition fees to invest in bursaries and outreach schemes.^[15]

In Northern Ireland

Tuition fees are currently capped at £3,805 in Northern Ireland, with loans of the same size available from Student Finance NI.^[16]

In Scotland

In Wales

Welsh universities are also able to charge up to £9,000 a year in tuition fees, however Welsh students can apply for fee grants of up to £5,190, in addition to a £3,810 loan to cover these costs.^[17]

Possible alternatives

There have been two main proposed alternative ways of funding university studies: from general taxation or by a graduate tax.

During the 2015 Labour leadership election, Jeremy Corbyn (who won the election) announced if elected, he would remove fees by increasing National Insurance and Corporation Tax, whereas Andy Burnham said that he would introduce a graduate tax to replace fees.

Funding from general taxation

Tuition is paid for by general taxation in Germany, although only 27% of young people gain higher education qualification whereas in the UK, the comparable figure is 48%.^[18] Fully or partly funding universities from general taxation has been criticised as a 'tax cut for the rich and a tax rise for the poor' because people would be taxed to pay for something that many would not derive a benefit from, while graduates generally earn more due to their qualifications and only have to pay them back.^[19]

Graduate tax

A graduate tax has been criticised because there would be no way to recover the money from students who move to a different country, or foreign students who return home.^[20]

References

External links

Wikinews has related news:

• UK Parliament to vote on tuition fee rise on Thursday

• Text of Higher Education Act 2004, which introduced top-up fees
• BBC News Q&A: Student Fees
• The Guardian: All Change (guide to fees)
• Student Loans Company (the body responsible for providing and administering student loans in the UK)
• Dearing Report