Could £13,000 fees entice EU students back to UK universities?

Despite opposition from some British university leaders, pressure is growing to agree to a compromise in tuition fees charged to students from European Union member states in a bid to get a new post-Brexit trade deal over the line in next month’s UK-EU summit.

The long-awaited summit between UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham, President of the European Council António Costa and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, will take place in Brussels on 20 November.

The Europeans are demanding a youth mobility scheme to enable under-30s to live, work, study and travel for a period of time on both sides of the English Channel – and, importantly, a cut in tuition fees for EU students wanting to do degrees at UK universities – in return for reducing red tape for British food exporters, linking energy systems and deeper cooperation on immigration.

Since the Brexit withdrawal agreement when Boris Johnson was UK prime minister in 2020, EU students have been charged the same as other international students coming to the UK for their higher education.

Tuition fees charged to foreign students can be double those charged to home students for some courses at the most prestigious British higher education institutions. They can vary substantially even within the same subject.

For example, for international students entering in 2026-27, the published annual fee for Law is £17,500 (US$23,200) at Sunderland University and £35,400 (US$46,900) at University College London, before scholarships or discounts.

All changed by Brexit deal

Before the Brexit withdrawal agreement, EU students paid the same higher education tuition fees as home students, which currently stand at a maximum of £9,790 a year for UK undergraduates at English universities.

An earlier demand by the European Commission for a return to parity between EU and UK tuition fees as part of a reset in trade relations between Britain and the EU was rejected out-of-hand by former British prime minister Sir Keir Starmer.

Now, it is understood a compromise has been tabled by the European side, which would mean EU students paying the average cost of delivering a three-year undergraduate course at a British university.

This, according to The Telegraph’s chief political correspondent Nick Gutteridge, would mean a typical EU student paying “around £13,000 a year to study in the UK”.

That would be £3,000 more than a domestic student but significantly less than the fees charged to other foreign students, such as Americans and Chinese, who can pay up to £36,000.

According to a study by KPMG for the Department for Education, released over the summer by the Russell Group of UK research-intensive universities, the average cost of delivering an undergraduate degree in the UK was £12,317 per student in 2023-24, with costs averaging £10,340 for social sciences and £14,083 for engineering and technology.

Subsidising lower home fees

So, even the fees charged to international students, including those coming from EU member states, are subsidising the lower fees charged to home students.

This subsidy from international student fees is vital, with the Office for Students’ regulator estimating that 45% of English universities will face a deficit in 2025-26 – and many UK universities are shedding jobs and cutting degree programmes to reduce running costs, as University World News reported last week.

The Russell Group claims that granting home fees status to EU students “would cost UK higher education institutions around £580 million”.

However, industry experts say this claim is based on the current number of undergraduate EU students studying at UK universities and doesn’t take account of any compromise price agreed at next month’s EU-UK summit or any uptick in the number of Europeans attracted by a fees reduction as part of any EU-UK reset.

EU numbers could rise

Dr Janet Ilieva, director and founder of the Education Insight international higher education consultancy, told University World News that the number of EU undergraduate students studying at UK higher education institutions fell from 106,515 in 2020 to 2021 (the last year before EU students were charged international fees) to just 37,710 in 2024 to 2025.

She believes that EU students could be enticed back by a tuition fee of around £13,000, which is just a few thousand pounds more than UK students pay to study at some of the top universities in the English-speaking world and a lot less than other international students from other parts of the world are charged.

“On top of that, the UK is rejoining the EU’s Erasmus+ student mobility programme in the New Year, and a youth mobility scheme between the UK and the EU would encourage a greater free flow of students, both ways.

“So, I’m optimistic EU student numbers could be rebuilt, and that would strengthen revenue totals for UK universities,” said Ilieva.

Positive BCA spin-off

The return of greater numbers of EU students to the UK could have another positive spin-off for universities chiefs trying to minimise risks in recruiting overseas students so they can stay within the new limits for Basic Compliance Assessment (BCA) being phased in as part of the UK government’s clampdown on bogus student applications.

These require British universities to keep their student visa refusal rates by the Home Office to under 5% and achieve an enrolment rate for international applicants to at least 95%, with the course completion by enrolled international students being increased from 85% to at least 90% from next June.

Ilieva said: “EU students wanting to study in the UK are some of the brightest minds and bring considerable academic talent to the classroom and have some of the highest course completion rates.

“So, an increase in their numbers would reduce dependence on a narrow range of countries, including markets with higher observed visa-refusal rates.

“That should be welcomed by higher education leaders worried about the dangers of not meeting the new tighter BCA targets, which are essential to be able to continue recruiting international students to the UK.”

Sensible compromise

Ruth Arnold, an executive director at Study Group and consultant to UK universities and educational charities, told University World News: “A more affordable fee for EU students would offer a sensible compromise between recognising the real cost of university education and making the UK a more attractive destination again.

“A return to Erasmus and developing a youth mobility scheme would make this especially timely.

“European recruitment would provide vital income for universities, create a more balanced international recruitment portfolio and support more predictable enrolment and progression.”

It would also help Prime Minister Andy Burnham build closer ties to Europe, which he says he wants to see, said Arnold, “and enrich the global mix, alongside students from Asia, Africa, the Americas and the Middle East, at UK universities”.

Not go down well outside Europe

However, Anne-Marie Graham, a higher education consultant who recently stepped down after leading the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) after seven years as its chief executive, told University World News that cutting tuition fees for EU students might not go down well with students from other parts of the world.

“I think that any reduced fee for EU nationals would likely be perceived as very unfair by other students of other nationalities – certainly other governments, such as India, might see this as a slight in any strategic relationship with the UK.

“It would undoubtedly mean more EU nationals would consider the UK, but at what cost to recruitment and reputation in other countries?

“£13,000 would still be more expensive than most of our EU counterparts as well, so it’s not guaranteed that it would attract enough EU nationals to make enough of a financial impact for institutions,” said Graham.

Nic Mitchell is a UK-based freelance journalist and PR consultant specialising in European and international higher education. He blogs at
www.delacourcommunications.com.