Graduate tax considered as a replacement for tuition fees

‘A desperate attempt to kick the issue into the long grass’

STUDENTS could face a graduate tax instead of tuition fees under a radical shake-up of higher education funding.

Theresa May yesterday said that she is considering plans for a graduate tax after announcing that the Government will freeze tuition fees at £9,250.

Ministers will also raise the income threshold at which graduates begin paying back their student loans from £21,000 to £25,000, Mrs May said.

The Prime Minister has scrapped plans for a £250 rise in tuition fees in 2018-19. Other ideas being considered by ministers include the introduction of fast-track, two-year degree courses, plans to cut the interest rates on loans and introducing lower fees for students studying subjects, such as engineering, where there is a skills shortage.

Alistair Jarvis, chief-executive of

Universities UK, said he wanted to see the Government going further by reintroducing maintenance grants for the poorest students and reducing interest rates for low and medium earners.

Angela Rayner, the shadow education secretary, said the move was “a desperate attempt by the Tories to kick the issue into the long grass because they have no plans for young people and no ideas for our country”.