The Government’s decision to charge students more for universities in England next year is “morally wrong” and the reforms are a “sticking plaster” over what is needed, education leaders have warned.

Tuition fees for domestic undergraduate students in England will rise to £9,535 per year after being frozen at a maximum of £9,250 for eight years.

Education Minister Bridget Phillipson told MPs on Monday that the fee increase was “not an easy decision” but was necessary to “secure the future of higher education” amid financial challenges.

This comes as university leaders warn of serious financial concerns due to a freeze on tuition fees paid by domestic students and a decline in the number of international students.

Ms Phillipson announced maintenance loans will also increase in line with inflation in the 2025/26 academic year to help students facing cost pressure.

Tuition fee and maintenance loan rates will apply to new students and those continuing their studies from 2025/26.

The National Union of Students (NUS) said students were being asked to “foot the bill” to keep the lights and heating on at their universities and prevent their courses from closing during the “crisis”.

Alex Stanley, NUS vice-president for higher education, said: “This is just a plaster that sticks and it can happen.

“Universities cannot continue to be funded by the ever-increasing debt burden on students.”

Earlier this year the University and College Union (UCU) warned that universities faced “disaster” if they were not given an emergency bailout by the Government.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said the tuition fee increase was “economically and morally wrong”.

He said: “Taking more money from indebted students and giving it to overpaid, underperforming vice-chancellors is an ill-conceived approach and comes nowhere near solving the sector’s fundamental problems.”

The previous government raised the cap on university tuition fees in England to £9,000 per year in 2012, but since 2017 the cap has been frozen at £9,250 for domestic undergraduates.

The 3.1 per cent increase in tuition fees and maintenance loans only applies to the 2025/26 academic year and the DfE said longer-term funding plans for the higher education sector will be determined in due course.

Announcing the increase, Ms Phillipson told MPs: “We will fix the foundations, securing the future of higher education so students can benefit from a world-class education for generations to come.”

He added: “There is no point in keeping tuition fees low for future students if the universities are not where they can attend or if students cannot afford to support themselves while they study.”

The Education Minister also announced that the maximum tuition fee for classroom-based foundation year courses will be reduced to £5,760 from the 2025/26 academic year.

Conservative shadow education secretary Laura Trott said Labor had “declared war” on students and they would “suffer” at a time when they can least afford it.

He described the fee increase as “an increase in the effective tax that graduates have to pay.”

Nicola Ranger, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said: “With the number of student nurses falling in every part of England, ministers are deciding to make a bad situation worse.

“Today’s announcement will deter more people from joining the profession. This means fewer highly skilled staff in wards and communities.

“This is bad news for patient care and undermines the Government’s own NHS reforms.”

But Vivienne Stern, chief executive of Universities UK (UUK), which represents 141 universities, said the Government’s decision was “the right thing to do”.

He said: “A decade-long freeze in England has caused inflation to erode the real value of student fees and maintenance loans by around a third, a completely unsustainable situation for both students and universities.”

In its review of university finances in May, higher education regulator the Office for Students (OfS) said 40% of universities in England were predicted to run a budget deficit in 2023/24.