Growing calls for free higher education in UK as cost-of-living burdens continue

Calls are mounting for free university tuition in the UK following the government’s announcement that maintenance grants will be returning for some UK university students by 2029.

The University of Portsmouth’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof Graham Galbraith CBE, said that higher education “should be free for British people”.

Prof Galbraith told BBC Radio Solent that the government needs to increase its financial support for young people in universities, saying to the station: “The reality is that young people are finding the finances very, very difficult.”

Prof Galbraith’s comments referred to the cost-of-living crisis, which has long burdened students in the UK, with many being forced to work alongside studies, and others deciding to defer.

In 2024, [Keir Starmer] made the ‘tough decision’ to abandon the policy [to abolish tuition fees] in order to prioritise spending on the NHS

The government’s announcement that it would reintroduce maintenance grants followed an increase in tuition fees up to £9,535 last year, previously frozen at £9,250 since 2017. This decision was made to alleviate the financial strain already faced by many universities.

Recent analysis by the University and College Union (UCU) found that Universities have collectively cut more than 15,000 jobs in the past year. Employers have described these layoffs as the “only prudent option” given the extent of financial constraints within higher education.

According to Jo Grady, UCU general secretary, such “brutal” cuts would not only impact the “demoralised, exhausted, and furious” university staff but also “undervalued and poorly served” students.

Grady told the Today programme that the current financial model was “destroying higher education” and that there was “no replacement for stable funding from the government.”

Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged to abolish tuition fees altogether while campaigning to lead the Labour Party in 2020. In 2024, he made the “tough decision” to abandon the policy to prioritise spending on the NHS, saying that “we can’t have both.”

We fully support the call for free university tuition. Access to higher education should be determined by talent and ambition, not by personal wealth or background

Warwick Liberal Democrats statement

The Boar contacted several political societies at the University for their opinion on the matter, with Warwick Liberal Democrats being the only group to respond.

Rachel Green, the society’s Vice President, told The Boar: “We fully support the call for free university tuition. Access to higher education should be determined by talent and ambition, not by personal wealth or background.”

Green added: “We also call for the immediate reinstatement of maintenance grants for disadvantaged students. Maintenance grants are not a luxury – they are essential to ensuring that living costs never become a barrier to studying at university.”