Universities in England will be able to charge tuition fees of up to £9000 a year as the government confirms proposals from the recent Browne Review.

Subject to approval by Parliament, these changes will come into force from 2012 and could mean an almost threefold increase for some students with fees rising from £3,290 per year.

Here are the key changes:

• Fees will be allowed to rise to between £6,000 and £9,000 if universities can provide evidence they are widening access for students from economically poorer backgrounds (the criteria for this is still to be revealed).
• Graduates earning less than £21,000 p.a. will not pay any real interest on loans, but interest will rise to 3% (higher than Lord Browne proposed) on a scale for graduates earning between £21,000 and £41,000 p.a.
• Maintenance grants for the poorest students, with household incomes below £25,000, will be increased from £2,900 to £3,250 a year.
• Those with a family income of up to £42,000 will be allowed a partial grant, and students in London will continue to receive a higher maintenance grant.
• The Government estimates that ¼ of graduates will pay less overall than they do at present under the new proposals.

Large cuts in state funding, as announced in the Comprehensive Spending Review in October, means that some courses will be funded almost entirely by student fees in future. This is particularly true for arts and humanities courses.

What are people saying?

There has been a mixed response to the announcement.

Some think it is a vital move after the cuts to state funding, which will ensure that universities can continue to offer the highest standards of higher education.

The Russell Group said it is “a life-saving cash transfusion” which would be the “only way for the UK to remain a serious global player in higher education”.

Conversely, others think that the policy is unsustainable, because universities will have to charge the highest fees in order to survive, but this in turn will risk putting many students off entering higher education in future.

The Million+ Group said “Unless universities charge £9,000 there is a big risk that they will be worse and not better-off because of the swingeing cuts to teaching funding. The fear then must be that the outcome of such high fees will be to damage participation and social mobility.”

There is also some speculation that it will re-create a two-tier university system, with ‘top universities' charging the highest fees, and other universities charging less. Some commentators believe that, as students do not pay tuition fees in Scotland, and fees are currently capped at £3,290 in Wales and Northern Ireland, many English students will head to institutions in those countries instead.

Aaron Porter of the National Union of Students described the near threefold increase in fees as ‘an outrage'.

Speaking ahead of the announcement, the Liberal Democrats' youth group rejected the proposals.

“The current burden of debt is already weighing heavily on many students, and putting many others off going to university altogether,” said Liberal Youth chairman Martin Shapland.

Labour's university spokesman, Gareth Thomas, warned that “students will be forced to choose the cheapest courses, not the one that suits them best”.

The changes in tuition fees will apply to universities in England only.

Have your say

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You might find these online resources useful:

• University funding – making sense of the cuts
• Comprehensive Spending Review
• Stress
• Tips for managing change