Martin Lewis says £9,535 bill for UK households 'confirmed' days after Budget

Martin Lewis has issued a warning after a £9,535 bill was confirmed in Parliament on Monday. Universities in England are set to be able to charge full-time undergraduate students more than £9,250 a year in tuition fees under plans expected to be announced by Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson this afternoon.

BBC Sounds podcast host Martin said: "CONFIRMED IN PARLIAMENT: Max England tuition fees to rise to £9,535/yr from current £9,250 in the next academic year (do read my tweet below explaining it) Plus thankfully, maintenance loans to rise with inflation (3.1%) - it won't catch up the many substantially lower than inflation rises in previous years, but its better than nowt."

Speaking on Twitter/X, ITV star Mr Lewis said: "It's rumoured the English £9,250 tuition fee cap may be raised this afternoon for the first time in eight years, as universities' finances are strained. As student finance misunderstandings abound, I've bashed out a few notes to help...

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"1. Higher tuition fees WON'T change what most pay each year. For most, they're paid for you by the Student Loans Company and you repay afterwards only if you earn over the threshold. The amount you repay each year (9% over the threshold) solely depends on what you earn, not on what you borrow.

"2. Increasing tuition fees will only see those who clear the loan in full over the 40 years pay more. That is generally mid-high to higher-earning university leavers only, so the cost of increasing tuition fees will generally be born by the more affluent. Most lower- and middle-earning university leavers will simply pay 9% extra tax above the threshold for 40 years (and higher tuition fees won't change that).

"3. The rise in tuition fees is likely to be trivial compared to the changes the last Government made for 2023 starters. 2023 starters had their repayment thresholds dropped to £25,000 (from £27,295 a year) and had the time they had to keep repaying for (unless cleared) extended to 40 years from 30 years.

"So these higher annual repayments for longer, increased by over 50% the amount many graduates will eventually have to pay back for going to university. Yet they were almost stealth changes because people can't intuitively feel the seismic impact. Changing tuition fees is a more obvious rise, but in reality has far less of an impact on the amount most will repay (though combined with the 2023 changes it does certainly up the cost).

"4. The biggest practical problem for students isn't tuition fees (even if raised), it's the fact maintenance loans aren't big enough. English maintenance loans have not kept pace with inflation. I'd urge the Government to couple the tuition fee loans with bigger living loans – if not, it is a real risk to social mobility, with those from the poorest backgrounds likely to be worse affected."