Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: The Lebanese Army is continuing its investigations and will later announce any information that does not affect the confidentiality of the investigation
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: It has not yet been determined whether the detainees belong to ISIS or another organization
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Around 10 people of different nationalities, including Lebanese nationals, were detained
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: The Lebanese army arrested a number of people in the Matn area of Mount Lebanon with possession it has not disclosed
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman: We have strong indications that there are martyrs, injuries, and trapped people in the Salah al-Din area
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman: Citizens should avoid Salah al-Din Street because anyone who approaches it is at risk of being directly targeted
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman: Reality is that there is a very limited retreat of the vehicles, with the occupation forces providing cover undeer fire up to Salah al-Din Street
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman: Claims that the Israeli occupation has withdrawn from areas in the neighborhoods of al-Zaytoun, al-Tuffah, and al-Shujaiya are false
Hamas: The two delegations stressed that any negotiations must lead to the achievement of our people's goals and aspirations, foremost among which is ending the war and the complete withdrawal of enemy forces
Hamas: A delegation from the Hamas leadership, led by the head of the leadership council, Mohammad Darwish, met with an Islamic Jihad delegation, headed by its Secretary-General, Ziyad al-Nakhalah

Top UK universities to turn more students away as fees, costs clash

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: The Observer/The Guardian
  • 30 Jul 2023 00:29
4 Min Read

Experts and vice chancellors are warning that elite institutions may reject an increasing percentage of UK students in favor of more profitable overseas applications in the coming years.

  • x
  • Top UK universities will turn more students away 
    People walk around Oxford University's campus in Oxford, England, on September 3, 2017 (AP)

Experts and vice chancellors are warning that elite institutions may reject an increasing percentage of UK students in favor of more profitable overseas applications in the coming years.

Since 2017, tuition prices for home students have been fixed at £9,250 per year. However, analysts estimate that increasing inflation has reduced their true worth to £6,000 - the equivalent of fees in 2010 - which universities claim is substantially less than the cost of teaching the average student. To compensate for these losses, several institutions, particularly at the high end of the industry, have increased their number of overseas students.

Read more: Mental healthcare in decline in UK universities, comes under fire

With the increasing number of 18-year-olds in the UK, top institutions believe they will be unable to match the increased demand for spots from British sixth-formers unless the government intervenes.

Professor Colin Riordan, vice-chancellor of Cardiff University and a member of the Russell Group, told The Observer that “at a time of demographic growth among home students, it is inevitable that it will be more difficult to provide enough places. But it won’t be because we can’t fit them in – it will be because we can’t afford them.”

Riordan is certain that no university wants to be in this situation since educating British students should be the main goal of a British university.

Riordan believes that ministers must promptly discuss how to reform higher education finance, but he is skeptical that this will happen.

According to him, "We can see a cliff edge ahead of us and we are just going towards it.” The Russell Group notes that universities will lose an average of £4,000 for every UK undergraduate student they educate by next September. 

Mark Corver, a co-founder of DataHE, a consultancy that advises universities, said, "The real value of the fee cap has now dropped to £6,000, and by the autumn it will have dropped even further.”

He elaborates that this is inflicting significant damage on universities as they are "businesses being asked to sell something at considerably below what it costs to make it."

Related News

Professors being fired from jobs for pro-Palestine speech, solidarity

In 6 months, more US college students blame 'Israel' for Oct. 7: Poll

Universities have cited the diminishing real worth of tuition to justify refusals to fulfill staff compensation requests. According to the Universities and Colleges Union, their allegations of hardship are exaggerated and the industry can "more than afford" to raise wages after producing a record £44.6 billion last year.

An existential crisis

Nick Hillman, director of the Higher Education Policy Institute think tank, stated that ministers will be pressured in upcoming years, stressing that “policymakers start taking issues seriously when it starts affecting the children of people like them."

Hillman contends that colleges will be forced to reduce the number of students they educate at a loss while still meeting government standards for the proportion of students from less fortunate backgrounds.

He expressed that the country needs an expansion of universities as the demand for higher education continues to go up. 

Simon Marginson, a professor of higher education at Oxford, called the situation an "existential crisis".

Marginson remarked that "the wheels have now come off" the 2012 university financing structure, which raised prices to £9,000 while eliminating all government assistance for most degree programs.

He called the fees “politically impossible to increase, especially in the middle of a cost of living crisis joined to a collapsing NHS."

According to a spokesperson for the Department for Education, “We are keeping maximum tuition fees frozen to deliver better value for students and keep the cost of higher education under control.”

Read next: Third of UK youth think university degree is ‘a waste of time’

The National Union of Students (NUS) pointed out last month that university students in the United Kingdom have to work three jobs and cut their spending due to the decrease in financial support from the government and growing prices.

Earlier, the UK Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) revealed that government support for living costs for university students in the form of loans reached the lowest level in seven years.

The amount of money that students can borrow depends on their families’ income, and students from the poorest families can borrow only $11,700 this academic year.

  • United Kingdom
  • UK
  • University

Most Read

Hezbollah SG reveals war details on Al Mayadeen for the first time

Hezbollah SG reveals war details on Al Mayadeen for the first time

  • Politics
  • 8 Jul 2025
Major ambush in Gaza kills 6 Israeli troops, injures dozens

Major ambush in Gaza kills 5 Israeli troops, injures 14

  • Politics
  • 8 Jul 2025
Israeli soldiers are seen in Beit Hanoun ahead of an operation by the al-Qassam Brigades, undated (Al-Qassam Brigades Military Media)

'Israel' on blast as media exposes report discrepancies in Gaza ambush

  • Palestine
  • 8 Jul 2025
Yemen Navy sinks ETERNITY C ship, shares footage of operation

Yemen Navy sinks ETERNITY C ship, shares footage of operation

  • Politics
  • 9 Jul 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
The Freedom Flotilla ship Handala as it departs for Gaza, where it aims to break the maritime blockade at a port in Syracuse, Sicily in southern Italy on July 13, 2025. (AFP)
Palestine

Freedom Flotilla's Handala departs Sicily in bid to break Gaza siege

The container ship CMA CGM Laperouse, left, docks at the Georgia Ports Authority's Port of Savannah, Sept. 29, 2021, in Savannah, Ga (AP)
Politics

US shipbuilding woes deepen as tariffs, outdated policies backfire

Gaza war raises ethical questions for ex-Obama, Biden officials
Politics

Mercenary firm tied to Gaza war crimes hires Obama-Biden PR operatives

'Israel' targets children in Gaza collecting water
Palestine

'Israel' strikes Gaza kids fetching water, blames it on 'malfunction'

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS