📚 Undergraduate Tuition Fees and Student Support in 2026-2027: What Is Changing | 2026 至 2027 学年本科学费与助学支持有哪些变化
For students applying for entry in September 2026, the money question is no longer simple. Tuition fees in England are once again rising with inflation, maintenance loans are being uprated on the same principle, repayment thresholds are frozen, and a long-promised flexible funding entitlement keeps moving towards the horizon. This article sets out what is confirmed, what is indicative, and what you should check before you accept an offer.
对 2026 年 9 月入学的申请者来说，”钱”的问题已经不再简单。英格兰的学费重新开始随通胀上涨，生活费贷款按同一原则上调，还款门槛被冻结，而一再承诺的弹性资助制度仍在远方徘徊。本文将梳理哪些已经确定、哪些只是指示性估算，以及在接受录取前你应该核实什么。
1. The Headline Changes at a Glance | 一览关键变化
Three shifts define the 2026/27 picture. First, the tuition fee cap in England continues its inflation-linked climb that began in 2025/26. Second, maintenance loans are uprated on the same inflation measure, so headline amounts rise but real-terms purchasing power is broadly unchanged. Third, the student loan repayment threshold for Plan 5 borrowers stays frozen at £25,000, meaning more graduates cross the repayment line each year.
三点变化定义了 2026/27 学年的整体图景。第一，英格兰的学费上限延续自 2025/26 学年开始的名义上涨趋势，继续与通胀挂钩。第二，生活费贷款按同一通胀指标上调，因此名义金额上升，但实际购买力基本不变。第三，Plan 5 借款人的还款门槛冻结在 £25,000，意味着每年有更多毕业生越过了还款线。
- Tuition fee cap rises again in line with RPIX inflation. | 学费上限继续按 RPIX 通胀率上调。
- Maintenance loans uprated, not increased in real terms. | 生活费贷款随通胀上调，实际价值并未增加。
- Plan 5 repayment threshold frozen at £25,000. | Plan 5 还款门槛冻结在 £25,000。
- Lifelong Learning Entitlement now expected in 2027. | 终身学习权益预计推迟至 2027 年实施。
2. The Tuition Fee Cap: From £9,535 to Roughly £9,790 | 学费上限：从 £9,535 到约 £9,790
England’s undergraduate fee cap sat at £9,250 for eight consecutive years, from 2017/18 to 2024/25. In the Autumn Budget of November 2024, the government confirmed a rise to £9,535 for 2025/26 and, crucially, announced that from then on the cap would be uprated annually in line with inflation. That decision, not the single increase, is what reshapes the next few years.
英格兰的本科收费上限从 2017/18 到 2024/25 学年，连续八年停留在 £9,250。2024 年 11 月的秋季预算确认 2025/26 学年上调至 £9,535，更关键的是宣布此后该上限将每年随通胀上调。真正改变未来几年格局的，是这个机制决定，而不是单次涨价本身。
The standard formula used is straightforward:
2026/27 cap ≈ £9,535 × (1 + RPIX inflation)
Published departmental figures point to a 2026/27 cap of approximately £9,790 for a full-time undergraduate course. Universities are not obliged to charge the maximum, but in practice almost every English provider does, because the cap has fallen far behind real costs since 2012.
官方公布的部门数据指向 2026/27 学年全日制本科课程的上限约为 £9,790。大学并没有义务收满上限，但实际上几乎所有英格兰院校都会收满，因为自 2012 年以来这一上限早已远远落后于实际成本。
It is worth putting that in context. After more than a decade of frozen fees and high inflation, the real-terms value of the £9,250 cap had fallen by roughly a quarter. The annual uprating restores some of that loss gradually, but it also means applicants should plan for fees that rise every single year of a three-year course, not a fixed total.
把这一点放在背景中看更有意义。在学费冻结十年、通胀高企之后，£9,250 上限的实际价值下跌了大约四分之一。年度上调会逐步追回部分损失，但这也意味着申请者要为”三年中每年都在涨”的学费做预算，而不是一个固定总额。
Always confirm the final statutory figure on gov.uk before you rely on it for budgeting or for an exam answer.
在做预算或写考试答案之前，请务必在 gov.uk 上核实最终的法定数字。
3. Fees Across the Four Nations | 英国四大地区的学费差异
The United Kingdom does not have a single fee system. England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland each set their own caps, and the difference between “home” and “rest of UK” status matters enormously.
英国并不存在统一的收费体系。英格兰、威尔士、苏格兰和北爱尔兰各自设定上限，而”本地生”与”英国其他地区学生”的身份差异影响巨大。
| Nation | Home student fee (2025/26) | Key feature |
| England | Up to £9,535 | Full fee covered by tuition fee loan |
| Wales | Up to about £9,535 | Welsh students receive a fee grant alongside the loan |
| Scotland | £0 for Scottish students | SAAS pays the fee; rest-of-UK students pay a capped fee |
| Northern Ireland | Around £4,900 | Lower cap for NI students studying in NI |
Two consequences follow. A Scottish student studying in Scotland pays no tuition fee at all, while an English student on the same course may pay close to £9,800. And a Northern Irish student who stays at home pays roughly half the English cap, which is why cross-border applications are so sensitive to fee policy.
由此产生两个后果。苏格兰学生在苏格兰就读完全免学费，而英格兰学生读同一门课程可能要付接近 £9,800。北爱尔兰学生留在本地就读只需付英格兰上限的约一半，这也是跨境申请对收费政策如此敏感的原因。
4. Maintenance Loans: The Number That Matters Most | 生活费贷款：最关键的数字
Tuition fees are paid directly to the university and most students never see the money. Maintenance loans are different: they land in your bank account and determine whether you can afford rent, food and travel. For most students, this is the figure that actually shapes daily life.
学费直接支付给大学，大多数学生根本见不到这笔钱。生活费贷款不同：它打进你的银行账户，决定你能否付得起房租、伙食和交通。对多数学生而言，这才是真正塑造日常生活的数字。
For 2025/26, the maximum maintenance loan for an English home student was approximately:
2025/26 学年，英格兰本地生的生活费贷款上限大致为：
- Living at home: about £8,610 | 住在家中：约 £8,610
- Living away from home, outside London: about £10,227 | 离家居住（伦敦以外）：约 £10,227
- Living away from home, in London: about £13,348 | 离家居住（伦敦）：约 £13,348
For 2026/27, these maxima are expected to be uprated by inflation on the same basis as fees. Applying an increase of roughly 2.5% to 3% gives indicative figures of about £8,800, £10,500 and £13,700 respectively. These are estimates, not confirmed entitlements, and the final rates are normally published in the spring before the academic year begins.
2026/27 学年，这些上限预计会与学费按同一基准随通胀上调。若按约 2.5% 至 3% 的增幅推算，指示性数字分别约为 £8,800、£10,500 和 £13,700。这些是估算值而非已确认额度，最终标准通常在该学年开始前的春季公布。
The critical point is real-terms stagnation. If the loan rises by the same percentage as prices, students are no better off than the year before. Given that rent in many university cities has risen faster than general inflation, the gap between the maximum loan and actual living costs has continued to widen.
关键点在于实际价值的停滞。如果贷款涨幅与物价涨幅相同，学生的处境并不比上一年更好。考虑到许多大学城的房租涨幅高于总体通胀，生活费贷款上限与实际生活成本之间的缺口仍在扩大。
5. How Maintenance Loan Entitlement Is Calculated | 生活费贷款额度如何计算
Not every student receives the maximum. The maintenance loan is means-tested against household income, usually the income of parents or guardians. Roughly speaking, entitlement falls as household income rises, and the household contribution is expected to make up the difference.
并非每位学生都能拿到最高额度。生活费贷款要经过家庭经济状况审查，通常依据父母或监护人的收入。大致而言，家庭收入越高，可获得的贷款越少，差额被期待由家庭补齐。
The structure can be summarised as:
Maintenance loan = base entitlement + means-tested top-up
Household income up to around £25,000 normally attracts the full entitlement in England. Above that, the loan is reduced in graduated steps until, at high income levels, only the base rate remains. This is why two students on the same course, in the same city, can receive several thousand pounds less than each other.
在英格兰，家庭收入约 £25,000 以下通常可获得全额贷款。超过该水平后，贷款按阶梯递减，直至在高收入水平下只剩基础额度。这就是同一门课、同一座城市的两个学生，贷款金额可能相差数千英镑的原因。
- Household income is assessed on gross taxable income, not take-home pay. | 家庭收入按税前应税收入评估，而非到手工资。
- Only one student is assessed per household in most cases. | 多数情况下每个家庭只评估一名学生。
- Entitlement must be reapplied for every academic year. | 每学年都必须重新申请贷款额度。
- Changes in household income can be reported mid-year. | 家庭收入变化可在学年中途申报调整。
A common and costly mistake is assuming the previous year’s award carries over automatically. It does not. Students must submit a fresh application each spring, and late applications frequently mean money arriving after term has started.
一个常见且代价高昂的错误，是以为上一年的额度会自动延续。事实并非如此。学生必须在每年春季重新提交申请，延迟申请往往意味着钱在开学之后才到账。
6. Repayment Plans: Plan 2, Plan 5 and the Frozen Threshold | 还款计划：Plan 2、Plan 5 与冻结的门槛
Repayment is where most confusion lives, so it is worth being precise. England now operates two main undergraduate plans, and which one applies depends on when you started your course.
还款是最容易产生混淆的环节，因此值得讲清。英格兰目前主要有两个本科还款计划，适用哪一个取决于你开课的年份。
| Feature | Plan 2 | Plan 5 |
| Applies to | Courses starting before August 2023 | Courses starting August 2023 onwards |
| Repayment threshold | Uprated annually with earnings | £25,000, frozen |
| Repayment rate | 9% of income above threshold | 9% of income above threshold |
| Write-off period | 30 years | 40 years |
The arithmetic is identical in structure for both plans:
两个计划的结构在算术上完全相同：
Annual repayment = 9% × (gross annual income − repayment threshold)
So a Plan 5 graduate earning £30,000 pays 9% of £5,000, which is £450 a year, or about £37.50 a month. Earn £25,000 or less and you pay nothing that year, regardless of how large the balance has grown.
因此，一位年收入 £30,000 的 Plan 5 毕业生需支付 £5,000 的 9%，即每年 £450，约每月 £37.50。若年收入不超过 £25,000，该年无需还款，无论欠款余额涨到多少。
Because the Plan 5 threshold is frozen while earnings typically rise, the proportion of graduates making repayments increases every year without any policy announcement. This is sometimes described as a “stealth” tightening of the system.
由于 Plan 5 门槛被冻结而收入通常上涨，每年都会有更高比例的毕业生进入还款状态，而这根本不需要任何政策公告。这有时被称为体系的”隐形收紧”。
7. Interest Rates and the Real Cost of Borrowing | 利率与借款的真实成本
Interest is added from the day the first payment is made, not from graduation. Under Plan 5, the rate applied is based on the Retail Prices Index measure of inflation, meaning the balance grows with inflation even while you are studying.
利息从第一笔款项发放当天起就开始计算，而非从毕业开始。在 Plan 5 下，适用利率以零售物价指数衡量的通胀为基础，这意味着余额在你读书期间就会随通胀增长。
Under Plan 2, the picture is more graduated: interest ranges from the RPI rate for lower earners up to RPI plus 3% for the highest earners, with a lower rate while studying. The practical effect is that high-earning Plan 2 graduates can see balances grow faster than they repay.
Plan
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