Tuition fees in the United Kingdom

Tuition fees were first introduced across the entire United Kingdom in September 1998 under the Labour government of Tony Blair to help fund tuition for undergraduate and postgraduate certificate students at universities; students were required to pay up to £1,000 a year for tuition.[1][2] However, only those who reach a certain salary threshold (£21,000) pay this fee through general taxation. In practice, higher education (HE) remains free at the point of entry in England for a high minority of students.[3]

The state pays for the poorest or low income to access a university, thus university attendance remains high.[4] There are record levels of disadvantaged students accessing a university in England.[4] As a result of the devolved national administrations for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, there are now different arrangements for tuition fees in each of the nations. The Minister of State for Universities has oversight over British universities and the Student Loans Company.

  1. ^ "BBC Q&A: Student Fees". BBC News. 9 July 2009. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
  2. ^ Stuart Alley and Mat Smith (27 January 2004). "Timeline: Tuition fees". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 12 February 2011.
  3. ^ "University Challenge: How Higher Education Can Advance Social Mobility" (PDF). GOV.UK.
  4. ^ a b "Statistics: participation rates in higher education". GOV.UK. 31 October 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2021.