On Monday, the Education Secretary said that next autumn, university tuition costs in England will rise for the first time in eight years.

According to Bridget Phillipson, fees will increase in tandem with inflation.

Since 2017, the annual fee ceiling for domestic undergraduate students in England has been set at £9,250. Under the new regulations, annual expenses will reach a record £9,535 in October 2025.

Ms Phillipson told MPs: "Increasing the fee cap has not been an easy decision, but I want to be crystal clear that this will not cost graduates more each month as they start to repay their loans.

"Universities are responsible for managing their own finances and must act to remain sustainable. But members across this house will agree that it is no use keeping tuition fees down for future students if the universities are not there for them to attend."

It comes after university leaders warned of significant financial concerns as a result of frozen tuition fees paid by domestic students - which are currently £9,250 per year - and a drop in international students .

Home Office figures released in October showed there was a 16% drop in visa applications from overseas students - to whom universities can charge significantly higher tuition fees - between July and September.

Since January, people coming to study in the UK from abroad have been banned from bringing dependants with them, apart from on some postgraduate research courses or courses with government-funded scholarships.

The previous government raised the cap on university tuition fees in England to £9,000 per year in 2012

Universities UK (UUK), which represents 141 universities, recently called on the Government to increase funding for teaching in England by linking fees to inflation and restoring the teaching grant.

The blueprint from UUK, published in September, warned that teaching funding per student in England was at its "lowest point since 2004" and the current £9,250 fee would have been worth £5,924 in 2012/13.

It added that any rise should be accompanied by additional support to help with the cost of studying for the poorest students, including restoring grants.

In a report in June, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) suggested that raising the tuition fee cap to match RPIX inflation would see fees rise by 2.1% to £9,450 in 2025 and they would reach £10,500 by 2029.

Professor Shitij Kapur, vice-chancellor of King's College London (KCL), had previously suggested that universities in England needed between £12,000 and £13,000 per year in tuition fees to meet costs.

Downing Street said that universities are "facing severe financial challenges".

Before Bridget Phillipson's statement, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "As she will set out, the Government inherited a higher education sector facing severe financial challenges.

"Universities have suffered a significant real terms decline in their income and the gap between disadvantaged students and their peers is the highest on record."

He added: "The Government is determined to take the tough decisions necessary to put universities on a secure footing so that in turn they can deliver more opportunities for students and growth for our economy."