Wales follows England in raising tuition fees to £9,535

The cap on university tuition fees in Wales is to rise for the second time in a year to bring it in line with the £9,535 that will be paid by students in England from 2025-26.

Welsh institutions were permitted to charge only up to £9,250 a year in September, seven years after the fee cap rose from £9,000 for their English counterparts.

There will be no such lag this time after the Welsh higher education minister, Vikki Howells, announced that she will mirror a move by the Westminster education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, who decided to bring an eight-year fee freeze to an end in England last month.

“In recognition of the increased costs of higher education provision and to provide additional funding to Welsh universities and to help ensure they remain viable and competitive, the cap on the maximum amount undergraduate students choosing to study in Wales can be charged will increase to £9,535 from £9,250, in line with England,” a statement from the Welsh government said.

The move will bring some relief to struggling Welsh universities, which have warned that they face a financial “black hole” because of decreasing enrolments and cuts to government grants.

But any increased income is likely to be eclipsed by extra staff pay and pension costs, particularly the hikes to employer national insurance contributions that will add millions of pounds to the average university’s outgoings.

“The decision to raise tuition fees was difficult but necessary to ensure Welsh higher education institutions remain competitive with those in other parts of the UK,” said Ms Howells.

“I want to be clear that this small increase in fees should not dissuade anyone from Wales considering applying for university next year. An increase in fees will not increase the upfront cost of university for students. Nor will it increase their monthly repayments as graduates.”

The Welsh government said it will continue to offer a partial write-off of student debt up to £1,500 when a student begins repaying their loans, something that is unique to Welsh students.

Maintenance support for students is also due to rise, by 1.6 per cent, for both new and continuing students from the next academic year, less than the 3.1 per cent increase announced in England.

However, the Welsh system already offers more generous loans, meaning that the increase will take the full loan offered to a Welsh student studying away from home but outside London to £12,345, compared with the maximum £10,544 loan available for those in England.

Support for postgraduate master’s and doctoral studies students will also increase by 1.6 per cent, as will grants for those with dependants or a disability.

Wales’ fledgling tertiary sector regulator, Medr, is set to receive an addition £20 million in funding, which it can use to support universities and further education colleges.

Ms Howells said her government “remains committed to supporting people to invest in their future and ensure that everyone, no matter their background, can access and participate in higher education so we can raise skills for the future of the Welsh economy”.

The move came ahead of the Scottish government’s revealing its latest budget on 4 December. Experts have warned that Scottish universities – where local students are offered free tuition – increasingly lag behind both English and Welsh counterparts for funding, with institutions receiving just £1,820 per student in tuition fees from the government plus a teaching grant worth about £5,790.

tom.williams@timeshighereducation.com