Student fees could rise in Wales

Local TV

University fees in Wales are set to change. An increase in the amount students may spend is soon to come into place, and sees fees rise by 250 pounds. The education minister says that the change will not impact people attending university, with students more focused on the cost of living. So how will this affect students in Wales.

Transcript

00:00 Maintenance support for eligible undergraduate students will increase by 3.7% and the tuition

00:07 fee cap which has been announced will be increased only to the same level already charged by

00:12 higher education providers in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland. We've protected our

00:17 policy of partial cancellation of debt of up to £1,500 when a student begins repaying

00:22 their loans and this is unique to Welsh students no matter where they study. The fee limit

00:28 changes will not result in an increase to the monthly repayment which students will

00:32 make. Repayments will still be subject to the earnings threshold. Universities set their

00:37 own tuition fees. The actual price of the university is not set by the Welsh Government

00:42 who only set the limits to fees. This change will allow universities some freedom in changing

00:46 their prices and ministers are keen for Welsh universities to keep up on the international

00:50 stage and attract the brightest and best research globally. This decision obviously the Welsh

00:56 Government doesn't set course fees itself, it's important to say that. The Minister has

01:00 obviously raised the maximum level of these Welsh Government tuition fees. So I wonder

01:05 what work the Welsh Government and the Minister has done to understand the proportion of courses

01:11 that will now charge this new maximum fee? Well the Member is right to say that that

01:16 is a matter for universities and it is a matter for them whether they choose to increase the

01:21 fee limit within the cap. As the Member will know the tuition fee cap when increased will

01:27 be the same as already charged by higher education providers in England, Northern Ireland and

01:33 Scotland and Welsh students studying outside Wales will already be paying fees at the increased

01:39 cap. It is a matter for universities how they approach charging for their courses. That

01:45 is not a matter for me as the Minister and to answer the point which I failed to answer

01:50 to Helen Ffachan, the timing of any changes which universities wish to make is a matter

01:57 for them. Health Minister Jeremy Miles says that potential students are more affected

02:01 by the cost of living rather than tuition fees. So he believes the change won't be a

02:05 big factor in students deciding whether or not to attend university. It is really important

02:09 that we are clear about what is being changed and what is not being changed. All the evidence

02:14 that we have points to the fact that students make the decision, they're more likely to

02:19 make the decision based on the costs of living and the maintenance cost implications rather

02:23 than on the tuition fee element itself. I think it's important that we still, in the

02:29 discussions that we have in the Chamber, encourage people into higher education and postgraduate

02:34 study. Wales is the only nation in the UK which offers our students, wherever they have

02:41 studied, a £1,500 write-off at the start of the repayment of their loans, which is

02:48 twice the amount by which the cap is increased on a typical three-year degree. Student fees

02:54 are pricey and look set to rise and with the cost of living crisis ongoing, there is a

02:57 real concern for Welsh students and Welsh universities in the future. James Peter Watkins,

03:02 reporting from Wales.

03:03 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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