The new policies being outlined by the government involve the student not paying any tuition fees whilst being exempt from any form of government-provided subsidy, loans or grants during this period. The understanding is that for those who plan to stay at home while they take their degree can avoid the unnecessary loans for living costs and have no tuition fees as a bonus. This will supposedly support those from low-income households, enabling them to go to university without racking up tens of thousands in debt.

University education in the UK was based upon the system of grants to cover tuition fees until 1998 when tuition fees were introduced, alongside a system of student loans and means-tested grants to cover living costs along with the new fees. Then in 2006, things changed again. This time, top-up fees were introduced on top of the conventional fees (which were limited to around £1,250/year) which could be anywhere from £0 to over £3000 per year. This has driven the cost of completing a 3 year university degree to well over £20,000 for a lot of students, once living costs are taken into account.

While this is still very much at the planning, wouldn’t-it-be-nice phase, there are rumours that it could well go all the way and is under serious consideration. Watch this space!