There’s bad news for Irish students going to university in the UK

The Government has been accused of “a kick in the teeth to students” after it was announced that maximum tuition fees at English universities will rise to £9,250 a year from September 2017.

However, Cambridge’s policy on tuition fees states that for home and European Union students that have already matriculated “the annual fee is fixed upon year of entry, subject to the notes provided”.

Liberal Democrat education spokesman John Pugh told the BBC that announcing a higher level of fees of £9,250 was “disgraceful arrogance from some universities”, adding that proposals to raise fees were “not a done deal”.

The government says the increase can apply to students who have already begun courses – but this will depend on the terms of student contracts in individual universities.

The University has been cited in media reports as one of a few universities advertising inflationary fee increases for home/EU undergraduates from 2017/18.

On Kingston University’s website, it states fees for the 2017/17 academic year will be £9,000, but “fees may be reviewed if the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) allows for universities to increase tuition fees from 2017/18”.

Sally Hunt, UCU general secretary, said: “Those universities foolish enough to advertise higher fees will be doing nothing to quell concerns from students and parents that they are simply after as much cash as they can get”.

“First they trebled tuition fees saddling students with debt, now they’ve confirmed they’re set up to do so again”.

“To meet our obligations under Competition and Markets Authority legislation we are required to provide comprehensive and transparent information to applicants, including in relation to fees, on the University website and at pre-application Open Days (which in our case were held in June 2016)”.

Students starting their applications for university this coming academic year will therefore be faced with potential fee levels above the current maximum, potentially before the reform has even been passed by the government.

Royal Holloway said: “Royal Holloway, University of London has been clear to prospective students that any increase in fees for entry in 2017/18 is subject to ministerial approval”.

A Government spokesman said: “The ability to maintain fees in line with inflation has been in place since 2004, and is subject to regulations”.

“Linking fees to teaching quality in this way is unacceptable – enabling any university that scrapes a “meet expectations” rating to increase fees by 2.8% shows that this isn’t about teaching quality at all”.

The move has been quickly condemned by a number of commentators, saying the price increase would further exclude those from less privileged backgrounds from higher education.