Fees for England universities frozen at £9,250 for two years

University tuition fees successful England are to enactment frozen astatine £9,250 for the adjacent 2 years, says the government.

But students look a further compression connected surviving costs with attraction loans rising by 2.8% from this autumn.

The Save the Student wealth proposal website said it was a "devastating blow" aft loans roseate conscionable 2.3% this year.

In addition, the authorities has said it volition springiness a further £15m to hardship funds astatine universities.

The National Union of Students (NUS) welcomed fiscal assistance for students but said hardship funds were "a speedy hole to a semipermanent problem".

The NUS, which represents students crossed the UK, urged the authorities to spell further by offering larger loans and grants for pupil surviving costs, and tackling "spiralling pupil rent".

The authorities confirmed connected Wednesday that attraction loans and grants for undergraduate and postgraduate students would spell up 2.8% for the 2023/24 world year.

This emergence falls beneath the existent ostentation complaint of 10.7%. The NUS called the summation "woefully inadequate" and said it would mean students were £1,500 worse disconnected than if enactment had been accrued successful enactment with inflation.

The University and College Union, which represents much than 120,000 acquisition unit successful the UK, said the summation would "barely interaction the sides" successful the look of "high inflation, rising vigor bills, transport costs, rents, and falling wages".

NUS research published successful July suggested a 3rd of students had conscionable £50 to unrecorded connected aft paying rent and bills.

In a written statement, Robert Halfon, higher acquisition minister, said the authorities recognised "students proceed to look fiscal challenges".

He besides said this was the sixth twelvemonth successful a enactment tuition fees had been frozen for full-time undergraduate courses.

In Wales, tuition fees are capped astatine £9,000, portion successful Northern Ireland, location students wage a maximum of £4,630 but those from different UK nations tin beryllium charged up to £9,250.

In Scotland, Scottish students are eligible for escaped tuition, portion those from elsewhere successful the UK tin wage up to £9,250.

Mr Halfon said: "I'm truly pleased to spot that truthful galore universities are already stepping up efforts to enactment their students done a assortment of programmes.

"These schemes person already helped students up and down the state and I impulse anyone who is disquieted astir their circumstances to talk to their university."

Last year, an authoritative survey besides suggested that fractional of students successful England were facing wealth problems arsenic the outgo of surviving soared.

More than three-quarters were besides disquieted rising costs would impact their world success, according to the probe by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).