Tuition fees at Oxford and Cambridge

How do you pay it back?

Currently, graduates have to pay a percentage of their salary above a certain threshold. This is, at present, £524 per week or £2,274 per month (a bit over £27,000 per year) and graduates are required to pay 9% of their salary above this for 30 years. After 30 years, if the debt hasn’t been paid, it is written off (Just as their kids start going to university! Oh the irony!). The amount graduates have to be earning before they start paying is adjusted according to inflation every year, so as your salary buys less, the threshold for paying back the loan will increase. Whilst there is still a figure on your balance, the debt accrues interest (i.e., the longer the money isn’t paid back the larger the figure to be paid will get). The interest is currently 4.5% whilst you’re studying, after which the interest rate changes depending on your income (but generally remains roughly the same as the aforementioned 4.5%).

At present, only about a quarter of graduates repay their student loan debt in full in the 30 years after graduation, so it’s more likely than not that you’ll never have to pay back the full amount you’ve loaned. In fact, there are sometimes penalties for trying to pay back your student loan faster than the suggested plan, so even if funds allow it’s often best to leave the debt be!

Do these fees apply to all students?

In short, no, these fees do not apply to all students at all UK universities for a variety of complicated reasons. Here are a few of the key exceptions that might apply to you.

Firstly, these tuition caps are only applicable to UK home students, with international student fees being considerably higher. For example, whilst UK student fees are £9,250 p.a. for home students on all undergraduate courses, the international tuition fees range between £24,750-£34,678 per year, which is significantly higher. Furthermore, since the UK left the EU, students from the European Union are now required to pay the full international figures.

There are also different figures in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland for students coming from these regions. In Scotland, whilst students from the rest of the UK will be likely to find themselves paying the full £9,250 per year (although it’s worth bearing in mind that this is only for the first three years of the usual four-year Scottish degree, with the final year often being significantly cheaper), Scottish students are charged £1,820 per year which is covered by the Scottish government in almost all cases. University fees in Wales are still capped at £9,000 per year, and students from Wales can see up to £1,500 per year knocked off their student loan repayments. In Northern Ireland, students from the rest of the UK are generally charged the cap of £9,250 per year, while Northern Irish students will be charged £4,630 in the 2022/2023 academic year. (NB: to be considered a ‘home’ student in Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland, you are usually required to have been living there for three years prior to the start of your degree course).