*Info gathered from BBC News*
A new review has suggested tuition fees in England should be cut to £7,500 and loan repayments continue for 40 rather than 30 years.
The government-commissioned review calls for better funding for students in vocational education.
The maintenance grants to support poorer students should also be reinstated after their 2016 abolishment.
“I believe it is time to bring them back,” said Prime Minister Theresa May.
Lower fees, longer repayments
But with Mrs May’s imminent departure she acknowledged the fate of the proposals would depend on the next prime minister.
“It will be up to the government to decide, at the upcoming spending review, whether to follow this recommendation,” she said.
The review warns that “some students are charged too much for their degrees” – and calls for the maximum fee to be reduced from £9,250 per year to £7,500, beginning from 2021-22.
The new fee level would be frozen until 2023-24, before rising with inflation.
However, all changes to fees would have to be approved by Parliament before they can be implemented.
Shakira Martin, president of the National Union of Students, said it would help to address “the debt aversion caused by high fees, high living costs and the lack of maintenance grants”.
But students will be tied into their loans for an additional ten years with unpaid loans being extended to 40 years before cancellation.
This could see graduates paying back loans through most of their working lives into their sixties.
Interest rates would continue to be applied based on inflation, but interest during studies would be reduced.
Repayments would also begin at an earnings threshold of £23,000 rather than the current £25,725.
With a lot of new changes set to take place over the coming months, the tuition fee decision may have to wait a little longer.
Photo: Getty Images
