Read: Tuition fee rethink can drive levelling up

There has been much commentary, and some wringing of hands, this week on Sir Keir Starmer’s announcement that the Labour Party would be dropping its plans to scrap tuition fees in the light of the country’s changed economic circumstances.

The Labour leader has cited changes in the country’s financial situation as the reason but has confirmed that his party would begin consulting on the issue within weeks and looking at alternative ideas. Some of those suggested by policy experts include reducing the cap on student numbers, increasing the financial support available to low-income students, higher fees for some high-cost subjects, a levy on employers and increasing the number of higher-paying foreign students. Former cabinet minister, David Blunkett, suggested last year that any policy change on tuition fees should support and incentivise flexible, part-time study.

Meanwhile, with a general election next year, there is only a vacuum where there should be well-considered strategies from both the Labour and Conservative parties. That is difficult news for the thousands of pupils sitting GCSEs and A Levels over the next few weeks who will find it difficult to make decisions about whether higher education is for them and, if it is, how much it is actually going to cost them. That uncertainty seems unfair for a generation who have already had their education badly disrupted by the pandemic. It’s also hard for universities who need a policy framework that can deliver a stable and transparent system to fund higher education.  

In its current form, that system is unsustainable and unfair. Tuition fees are a crucial part of maintaining investment in higher education but, as they have been frozen since 2017, high inflation now means there have been real term cuts. For students, annual fees of £9,250 for a full-time undergraduate course mean they incur significant debt, middle earner graduates will face marginal tax rates above those of the rich, while universities remain underfunded. Some students, of course, are able to sidestep the issue as their parents pay their tuition fees upfront, removing them from the repayment system completely.

In the meantime, it is the least advantaged students who are paying the highest price. Maintenance loans to help them with living costs have not kept pace with inflation so they are having to take on more paid work with, inevitably, less time to study. The additional pressures they are facing with the cost-of-living means that more of them will feel forced to drop out. Even if they graduate, the current system sees those students with the least family financial support leaving university with the highest debts for which they will face more interest charges and take longer to pay off.  The situation is likely to deter some candidates from applying to university at all.

Many, including students themselves, believe that it is only fair that they pay for their own degrees. A recent YouGov poll showed that 50% supported paying fees, with only 30% suggesting that the public should fund them through general taxation. There needs to be an urgent discussion about how best to do this. chair of the Purpose Coalition, Rt Hon Justine Greening, has suggested that those graduates who do best out of university financially should contribute the most back. A graduate contribution could see all graduates pay their earnings-based graduate contribution but for the same set time period, rather than being based on how much debt is accrued, as it is now. That means that those graduates who go on to successful careers in finance or law for example would pay back more overall than their graduate colleagues who became teachers or nurses, whatever their respective backgrounds.

Creative and ambitious solutions are required, with collaboration from all stakeholders, if we are to have a viable higher education system again. But it must be one that ensures opportunity for everyone, if it is to drive personal and national achievement and to demonstrate a genuine commitment to levelling up.

Find out more by visiting the Levelling Up Universities Coalition website.