Last Monday, 4 November 2024, the UK Government announced a 3.1% increase in the cap on undergraduate home tuition fees and maintenance loans from September 2025. In practice, universities can increase the current £9,250 fee by £285 to £9,535 for standard full-time courses for the next academic year. We welcome the increase in maintenance loans, providing home students from the lowest-income families with as much as £414 extra per year.
As your Student Officer team, we've outlined in our Union Agenda: "We expect to learn and study at a University that values us as learners, where access to equitable education is prioritised over profit." We know King's students are concerned about the increasing cost of living and how their student experience has suffered as a result; therefore, this uplift will help. We now call on the University to review its financial aid and support packages to ensure they align with inflation and the changing loan rates. This includes the King's Living Bursary and Affordable Accommodation Scheme.
Whilst we acknowledge the increase in tuition fees will offer relief to the sector and our own University, we join other Russell Group Students' Unions and the NUS in calling on the Government to reform higher education funding with the aim of decreasing student fees in the future.
We are pleased to see Professor Shitij Kapur, Vice-Chancellor and President of King's College London, working with Universities UK to campaign for further financial security for the Higher Education Sector and will be following discussions in the House of Lords. We firmly agree with the Vice Chancellor that these costs should not be passed to students, and to suggest so would be out of touch.
We recognise the fear of debt is more likely to deter young people from lower-income backgrounds from applying to university. We strongly encourage all prospective students to seek advice before making their decisions. In October 2024, we launched our Financial Guide for studying at King's, which provides students with a live resource to help alleviate the pressures of the cost-of-living crisis.
You can learn more about our goals to increase Access to University and improve Student Life and Support through the Union Agenda. Should you want to make a further impact, we're inviting our members to come and discuss the need for affordable housing on 26 November. Affordable housing is a significant financial barrier to students accessing higher education, particularly in London. We look forward to seeing you there!
If you'd like to get involved in our campaigns, you can find out more here or get in touch via email at [email protected].
In Solidarity,
KCLSU Officer Team