education

Higher education in England among world’s most expensive, report says

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English tuition fees are second only to the US among OECD countries (Picture: Getty)

Higher education in England is among the most expensive in the world, a new report suggests.

Tuition fees across the nation were found to be higher than 35 of the world’s richest countries covered by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) – with the US the only exception.

Tuition fees are capped at £9,250 a year for UK and EU students in England and Wales, with more than three quarters of institutions charging the full amount.

Fees in Scotland and Northern Ireland are capped at much lower prices.

The report also said the net returns of getting a degree (the difference between the benefits and cost to individuals) are lower in the UK than most OECD countries.

UK tuition fees are higher than the average charged by US public universities, where the majority of American students are enrolled (Picture: Getty)

However, the gains still ‘greatly exceed’ the cost of tertiary studies, it added.

The public cost of higher education was also found to be ‘far outweighed’ by its benefits to society through extra tax and social contributions paid by graduates.

The report praised the UK’s ‘well-developed’ system of financial support for students in higher education.

It also indicated that Britain spent the fourth-highest proportion of its GDP on education from primary schools to universities.

Students in English higher education forked out the equivalent of £9,600 on average in 2017/18, the research said.

This was dwarfed by the US, where private bodies like the elite Ivy League universities charged on average £23,800.

But public bodies in the US – where most students go for higher education – were in fact cheaper than the UK, with average fees of £7,150.

The next most expensive countries were Japan and Korea – where most students go to private universities charging on average £7,114 and £7,095 respectively.

Spain, Australia and the US had the highest (non-average) fees.

The OECD also highlighted how attractive UK higher education is to the rest of the world.

Britain makes up 10% of the international education market across the OECD, with the second-highest number of international students after the US.



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