UK undergraduate tuition fee cap rises to 9,790 pounds in 2026/27 and 10,050 pounds in 2027/28, tied to teaching-quality ratings

Fees rise again after years frozen

Tuition fees for home-fee undergraduates in England were frozen at £9,250 for years, then rose to £9,535 for 2025-26. Now the cap rises again, to £9,790 in 2026-27, confirmed by the Office for Students . A further rise to £10,050 is planned for 2027-28, per the government's confirmed fee-limit regulations, a 2.68% increase over the 2026-27 cap, though the final figure depends on the inflation measure the government applies at the time.

The new fee caps

Why the increase depends on teaching quality

Not every university receives the full increase. To charge the maximum fee, a provider needs a Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) award from the Office for Students plus an approved access and participation plan. TEF rates providers Gold, Silver or Bronze for teaching and student outcomes. Without a TEF award, the 2026-27 cap stays at £9,525, close to the 2025-26 level, per the Office for Students. This ties the largest fee rise in years directly to a quality rating, instead of granting it across the board.

A provider with a TEF award but no approved access and participation plan sits in between, at £6,525 basic and lower rates for some courses. The system now rewards providers that both teach well and widen access, rather than paying every institution the same rate regardless of performance.

English universities have faced years of static fee income against rising staff, energy and facilities costs, and several have posted deficits. Linking new revenue to a quality rating gives the government a way to raise funding without handing every provider the same increase regardless of how they perform on teaching and student outcomes.

What this means for European students

These caps cover home-fee undergraduates only, mainly UK nationals and a small number of protected groups. Since Brexit, most students from elsewhere in the EU pay international fees in England, set independently by each university, often well above these capped figures. Irish citizens keep home-fee status under the Common Travel Area agreement. If you plan to study in England from another European country, check your chosen university's international fee page instead of these numbers, since the two fee systems move separately.

What to expect next

Universities publish official 2026-27 fee schedules once the fee limits complete the parliamentary process. If you already hold an offer, your university confirms which fee applies to you and whether it stays fixed for your full course or rises each year, so check your offer letter for that detail. Maintenance loan amounts, which cover living costs separately from tuition, follow their own yearly announcement and are worth checking alongside any tuition fee change.

If your course spans several years, ask your university in writing whether your fee locks in at your starting rate or moves up each year in line with these caps. Policies differ by institution, and this single detail changes your total course cost by hundreds of pounds over a three or four year degree.

Sources

• Office for Students: Fee limits