UUK suggested that if investment in teaching students had kept up with inflation, funding per student would be in the region of £12,000-£13,000. It added that any rise should be accompanied by additional support to help with the cost of studying – including restoring grants for the poorest students.

Moreover, the Save the Student money advice website said the latest rise in tuition fees would make "little difference to overall levels of student debt, and will have no impact whatsoever on the amount a graduate repays each month". But borrowing more will, inevitably, mean students leave university with more debt.

UK education secretary Bridget Phillipson has announced that university tuition fees in England are set to rise next academic year, with the maximum fee increasing by £285 to £9,535. This will be the first increase in university education for domestic undergraduate students since 2017, when fees were raised to £9,250.

COMMENT: Tuition fees were astronomical when I was at university – now it seems they will become completely unaffordable, writes Maja Anushka

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson says the move to hike tuition fees for the first time since 2017 was 'not an easy decision' but needed to 'secure the future of higher education'

After months of discussion and speculation about how British universities will fill budget deficits, the UK government confirmed that tuition fees will be increasing to £9,535 a year in England in 2025.

The University of Cumbria has said it is ‘reviewing’ after the government announced a rise in tuition fees for university students.