Confirmation of changes to tuition fees and maintenance loans
The UK Government has confirmed that maintenance loans and tuition fees for UK students studying in England will increase in line with inflation. Find out more about the changes and how they could impact you.
The UK government has increased the maintenance loan that helps students with living expenses in recognition of the impact of the cost of living.
It’s also confirmed increases to tuition fees to support universities with covering the cost of providing education and to help ensure the financial stability of the university sector. Fees have not increased for seven years, which means they have not kept in line with inflation.
What is changing
The tuition fee cap (the maximum that can be charged) for UK students studying full-time in England will increase by £285, from £9,250 to £9,535 per year.
Maintenance loans for English students are increasing by up to £317 a year. This applies to students living away from home and studying outside of London.
When these changes will happen
The increases were given parliamentary approval last week so are now law. The increases will come into effect from the 2025/26 academic year. Following parliamentary approval, the University of Bristol has confirmed the increases as set out above.
This increase applies to all students from 1 August 2025 whether or not the course began before that date. It therefore applies to new students, current students and those applicants who deferred their places from 2024/25 academic year to 2025/26.
What this will mean for your loan repayments
After you graduate, your monthly student loan repayments will not increase because of these changes.
You only have to start repaying your loan when you earn more than £25,000 per year. Your monthly repayments are fixed at 9% of your salary above this threshold. Any balance left after 40 years will be cleared. This means that only higher earners who clear their balance within the 40 years will pay more overall.
Support if you are worried about money
If you are worried about money, visit our money advice pages. You can join a money advice drop-in (Monday to Friday) and speak to an advisor with any questions you have.
More information
If you have questions about fees, please contact the Fees team, via Student Services:
If you would like to request financial support, you can be supported by the Money Advice team, via Student Services: