Labour to scrap tuition fees for students starting in September
Jeremy Corbyn announces plans to abolish £9,000-a-year charges – including for EU undergraduates in UK
Labour has brought forward the timetable for its pledge to scrap university tuition fees to this September, announcing that students starting courses this autumn will not have to pay if it wins the election.
In a speech later today, leader Jeremy Corbyn is to say that Labour will "lift this cloud of debt and make education free for all as part of our plan for a richer Britain for the many not the few".
In addition, the party will seek deals with EU nations to provide free education for foreign students in return for the same treatment for Britons studying abroad.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
If the plan was put into action, students starting a new course in September this year would have their first year's £9,000 fees written off retrospectively in order to encourage them not to defer their course a year.
Students already at university would not have to pay from 2018, meaning those starting the final year of a course in September this year would be the last to pay for their degree.
Announcing the policy alongside Angela Rayner, shadow education secretary, Corbyn will say: "The Conservatives have held students back for too long, saddling them with debt that blights the start of their working lives.
"We will scrap tuition fees and ensure universities have the resources they need to continue to provide a world-class education.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
"Students will benefit from having more money in their pockets, and we will all benefit from the engineers, doctors, teachers and scientists that our universities produce."
In response, the Conservatives have said that more people from less-well off families and backgrounds are going to university now than ever before, reports the BBC.
Former Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, who dropped his party's manifesto pledge to abolish tuition fees while a member of the coalition government, also criticised Labour's plan.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning, he said that instead of wanting "loads of free stuff", young voters want to talk about Brexit. He added: "I personally think it is the wrong choice now [to drop fees]."
His comments were met with accusations of "hypocrisy" on social media, says the Daily Telegraph, adding that in 2010, Clegg had said: "I really think tuition fees are wrong."
-
‘Managed wildfires have spread out of control before’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Separating the real from the fake: tips for spotting AI slopThe Week Recommends Advanced AI may have made slop videos harder to spot, but experts say it’s still possible to detect them
-
Europe sets 2027 deadline to wean itself from Russian natural gasIN THE SPOTLIGHT As international negotiators attempt to end Russia’s years-long invasion of Ukraine, lawmakers across the EU have reached a milestone agreement to uncouple the continent’s gas consumption from Moscow’s petrochemical infrastructure
-
Is a Reform-Tory pact becoming more likely?Today’s Big Question Nigel Farage’s party is ahead in the polls but still falls well short of a Commons majority, while Conservatives are still losing MPs to Reform
-
The launch of Your Party: how it could workThe Explainer Despite landmark decisions made over the party’s makeup at their first conference, core frustrations are ‘likely to only intensify in the near-future’
-
What does the fall in net migration mean for the UK?Today’s Big Question With Labour and the Tories trying to ‘claim credit’ for lower figures, the ‘underlying picture is far less clear-cut’
-
Will the public buy Rachel Reeves’s tax rises?Today’s Big Question The Chancellor refused to rule out tax increases in her televised address, and is set to reverse pledges made in the election manifesto
-
Five takeaways from Plaid Cymru’s historic Caerphilly by-election winThe Explainer The ‘big beasts’ were ‘humbled’ but there was disappointment for second-placed Reform too
-
The Chinese threat: No. 10’s evidence leads to more questionsTalking Point Keir Starmer is under pressure after collapsed spying trial
-
Taking the low road: why the SNP is still standing strongTalking Point Party is on track for a fifth consecutive victory in May’s Holyrood election, despite controversies and plummeting support
-
The end of ‘golden ticket’ asylum rightsThe Explainer Refugees lose automatic right to bring family over and must ‘earn’ indefinite right to remain