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Universities are already increasing their fees above £9000

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Original post by lyra1987
To turn down a place would be madness given the competition ratios. Plenty of qualified people are rejected every year simply due to a lack of places. I would have to keep paying for and sitting the entry tests every year. The continued stress of applying, the disruption to family life and career would not be justified. I got lucky to get a place this year. I will be working throughout the academic year, but if the fees rise then I will have to work even more than I currently plan to. Which means less time to study.


How much are the exam fees compared to medicine tuition fees though? I don't know how much the UKCAT/ BMAT fees are but I know the GAMSAT is about £200. £200 to £9000+ is nothing, surely?
You still missed the part about the familial disruption and stress. My family and partner could tolerate me continuing to apply if I was still trying to get in. But if I wilfully turned down a place in hope...the good will would very much be gone. I am not the only grad who applied to a mix of universities. with a 2:2 my options are very much limited. I chose to apply to the universities I actually had a chance to get a place. I made the right decision in that I actually got an offer. I took the offer based on being told that my fees would be £9000 and that would be my fees for 4 years. Jo Johnson is proposing to change the goalposts.
Original post by lyra1987
You still missed the part about the familial disruption and stress. My family and partner could tolerate me continuing to apply if I was still trying to get in. But if I wilfully turned down a place in hope...the good will would very much be gone. I am not the only grad who applied to a mix of universities. with a 2:2 my options are very much limited. I chose to apply to the universities I actually had a chance to get a place. I made the right decision in that I actually got an offer. I took the offer based on being told that my fees would be £9000 and that would be my fees for 4 years. Jo Johnson is proposing to change the goalposts.


Has your university actually said they would be increasing fees for current students? Some have said they aren't. eg Cambridge

Might be worth asking them so you can plan ahead.

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(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by lyra1987
You still missed the part about the familial disruption and stress. My family and partner could tolerate me continuing to apply if I was still trying to get in. But if I wilfully turned down a place in hope...the good will would very much be gone. I am not the only grad who applied to a mix of universities. with a 2:2 my options are very much limited. I chose to apply to the universities I actually had a chance to get a place. I made the right decision in that I actually got an offer. I took the offer based on being told that my fees would be £9000 and that would be my fees for 4 years. Jo Johnson is proposing to change the goalposts.


Oh my apologies, I didn't know you had gotten a 2:2. Well, in that case, you are kind of limited as to where you can go and apply. I really hope everything works out the best for you in any case :console:
Original post by jneill
Has your university actually said they would be increasing fees for current students? Some have said they aren't. eg Cambridge

Might be worth asking them so you can plan ahead.

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I have contacted the finance dept today but only read the article after work and after their offices were closed. Waiting for an email reply on their contract policy. Not going to stop me taking my place. Just trying to calculate how many more shifts I will have to work in the academic year to cover any increases. Have saved enough to pay my first year. But as placement hours and class times increase year on year, my ability to take nursing shifts will lower. I may end up looking for a bar job on top to supplement me in the evenings.
Original post by lyra1987
I have contacted the finance dept today but only read the article after work and after their offices were closed. Waiting for an email reply on their contract policy. Not going to stop me taking my place. Just trying to calculate how many more shifts I will have to work in the academic year to cover any increases. Have saved enough to pay my first year. But as placement hours and class times increase year on year, my ability to take nursing shifts will lower. I may end up looking for a bar job on top to supplement me in the evenings.


Ah well fingers crossed the news is not too bad - although I bet it will be "we don't know yet...".

On thing that hasn't been answered by Johnson is why the increase is so high. The current RPIX is 1.7% = £150 not £250...
Thank you, I can't expect you to know my personal circumstances. Currently working 60+ hours per week to save as much as I can. £9000 I can budget for but there is always the worry that depending on what happens with the economy in the next 4 years, my fourth year could be a lot more expensive. If I have to I will have to apply for a bank loan.

I think that for myself and a lot of other self funders, the anxiety is the not knowing what is going to happen year on year with inflation and potential tuition rises. Previously when tuition fees were linked to inflation the fees were much lower, £3500 if I remember rightly. So any rise would have been easier to budget for. Now with the baseline being £9000 and projections being £10000 in four years.

Any increases could lead to graduate training being unattainable for all but the rich. People may argue "so what?" But it will prevent social mobility for many. It will prevent mature applicants and people with life experience moving into professions like medicine and law. I think if I had waited a couple more years to apply then I may have decided against it due to finances. People with families and mortgages would not be able to plan and would rightly be put off applying if this goes through. Which is a bit sad.
Original post by jneill
Ah well fingers crossed the news is not too bad - although I bet it will be "we don't know yet...".

On thing that hasn't been answered by Johnson is why the increase is so high. The current RPIX is 1.7% = £150 not £250...


Silver lining....my only hope is that Brexit screws the economy for the next 4 years :P No inflation = no rise in fees.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-36835586


"The government's plans, in the Higher Education and Research Bill, will encourage more universities to be created and to make it simpler for institutions to gain their own degree awarding powers.Ms Greening said research showed that increasing the number of universities would improve the economy."


So this is what the extra money will be going towards.... :angry::angry::angry:
Original post by lyra1987
To turn down a place would be madness given the competition ratios. Plenty of qualified people are rejected every year simply due to a lack of places. I would have to keep paying for and sitting the entry tests every year. The continued stress of applying, the disruption to family life and career would not be justified. I got lucky to get a place this year. I will be working throughout the academic year, but if the fees rise then I will have to work even more than I currently plan to. Which means less time to study.


Have you looked into charitable grants/funds? They're unlikely to cover the full fees but every small donation helps.
Original post by PrincessBO$$
Well i'm going to uni in 2018/2019. I need to get a job ASAP now :redface:


ikr nothing else to it than that
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Assan
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Original post by jneill
Your loans will be also be higher. It's only a rise in line with inflation. It's not a major change...

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Not all of us have loans...
Original post by Assan
Not all of us have loans...


Fair comment.

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Original post by jneill
Your loans will be also be higher. It's only a rise in line with inflation. It's not a major change...

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Not an economist but I always wonder. Most product prices in the supermarkets don't increase every like tuition fees did before the 9K bump. Care to explain?

Original post by jessyjellytot14
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-36835586
"The government's plans, in the Higher Education and Research Bill, will encourage more universities to be created and to make it simpler for institutions to gain their own degree awarding powers.Ms Greening said research showed that increasing the number of universities would improve the economy."

So this is what the extra money will be going towards.... :angry::angry::angry:

I am so skeptical. There are a lot universities already. All of them competing against each other for research grants and for whatever money they can get. More unis will increase the competition. Plus, the quality of education doesn't seem to be consistent across universities (according to league tables).

Also, more universities means more graduates which means a greater oversupply of graduates and a greater competition for grad jobs. Given the high supply, employers could easy reduce the grad job salaries and benefits. :/
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Juichiro
Not an economist but I always wonder. Most product prices in the supermarkets don't increase every like tuition fees did before the 9K bump. Care to explain?


But prices do (generally) increase over time, that's what inflation is. RPIX, the measure used for this specific increase, is the Retail Price Index (eXcluding mortgage repayments). That said, RPIX is currenly 1.7% annually, not 2.8% so I've no idea where the larger increase comes from...

They use a "basket" of products & services and look at the price changes periodically. So for example bread might be getting more expensive, but petrol is cheaper (allthough it's now creeping up again), council tax is increasing, etc, etc, it's all factored in to give an overall figure.
Can I just ask, will this actually affect current students that much in terms of debt?

I mean you pay back your debt once you are earning roughly £21,000 or more and the amount you pay back depends of your wages rather than the amount of debt you are in. This means that you are paying the money back over a longer period of time but I thought that the debt is written after thirty years (apparently people only pay back 40% of their debt)....surely this means that the government is going to be paying for the tuition fee increase if people are going to be paying back a set amount anyway?

I hope you all understand what I mean?
Good to hear, think it should be 16k per year.

Kent is a joke of a uni though, don't go there.
Original post by Alicemidgetgem
Can I just ask, will this actually affect current students that much in terms of debt?

I mean you pay back your debt once you are earning roughly £21,000 or more and the amount you pay back depends of your wages rather than the amount of debt you are in. This means that you are paying the money back over a longer period of time but I thought that the debt is written after thirty years (apparently people only pay back 40% of their debt)....surely this means that the government is going to be paying for the tuition fee increase if people are going to be paying back a set amount anyway?

I hope you all understand what I mean?


Basically yes that's correct :smile:

And the expectation is approx 40% of students will pay off their loan in full. The rest will repay some but the outstanding balance will be written off.
What I don't get is that in places such as Germany, University is free and accommodation is cheaper yet our fees are increasing. How does Germany afford it and why can't the UK afford it or afford to at least decrease tuition fees? In Berlin they get a free bus pass for the city as well. Does anyone know why and care to explain? :smile:
Original post by rleah1998
What I don't get is that in places such as Germany, University is free and accommodation is cheaper yet our fees are increasing. How does Germany afford it and why can't the UK afford it or afford to at least decrease tuition fees? In Berlin they get a free bus pass for the city as well. Does anyone know why and care to explain? :smile:


I think not as many people go to uni in Germany as they do in the UK. Plus, many of the courses in the UK probably don't exist in Germany. Here, there's this attitude of pushing everybody to university. In Germany, they lack that tunnel vision, hence you have the German government investing in proper apprenticeship programs.
Also, maybe their uni VCs don't get the 6-figure salary that many UK VCs get.
(edited 7 years ago)

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