English universities will be permitted to charge up to £9,790 in tuition fees next academic year, with students set to pay more than £10,000 for the first time in 2027-28.

The Westminster government has confirmed fee caps for the next two academic years, having committed to annual rises in fees in line with inflation.

Further details on planned new maintenance grants have also been released after the chancellor Rachel Reeves gave her autumn budget.

First- and second-year eligible students will receive these for the first time in 2028-29, and they will be worth £1,000 per year for those with household incomes at or below the minimum threshold, currently £25,000 per year.

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Students whose household income is between £25,000 and £30,000 a year will receive some extra support, tapered down to a minimum of £500 per year.

Ministers have committed to bringing back maintenance grants – funded by the new international student fee levy – as part of efforts to expand access into higher education.

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But they will only be available for those taking certain subjects aligned to the government’s industrial strategy. A full list of eligible courses will be released in advance of the grants being introduced, says a released by the government on 26 November.

The latest announcements mean students will have to endure two rounds of tuition fee rises before the new grants come in.

confirm the government plans to increase the fee cap, with providers that hold a Teaching Excellence Framework award and access and participation plan able to charge the full amount.

A 2.71 per cent rise in 2026-27 will take the cap to £9,790 for standard full-time courses and £11,750 for full-time accelerated courses.

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These fees will rise the following year to £10,050 and £12,060 respectively after a further 2.68 per cent rise. The fee rises will apply to both new and continuing students.

Alex Stanley, the vice-president higher education at the National Union of Students, said the reintroduction of maintenance grants was “a victory for every single student and students’ union who has campaigned for this for a decade”.

But while “grant funding is a welcome relief for prospective students”, Stanley said the proposed amounts “will barely scratch the surface”.

“Students’ choice and agency should be defined by the scope of their ambition, not by the money in their pockets – and we’re deeply concerned that offering grants only on certain courses will artificially limit the choice of working-class students,” he added.

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Stanley said that tying the grants to the international fee levy left universities facing a choice of either having to absorb the extra costs of the levy – now confirmed at £925 per student – or passing it on to students.

“We need to see the introduction of maintenance grants covering all degrees and at a higher level, so that higher education is achievable for all regardless of where their passion lies. And we need to see the fundamentally-flawed plans for the international student levy scrapped,” Stanley said.

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tom.williams@timeshighereducation.com