Treasury paves way for tuition fee cut The Treasury has cleared the way for Theresa May to slash tuition fees by as much as a third as […]

The Treasury has cleared the way for Theresa May to slash tuition fees by as much as a third as part of Downing Street’s push to broaden the Conservatives’ appeal among voters, i understands.

The Prime Minister pledged to stage a major review of the higher education system following her disastrous election result, with suggestions that the £9,250 fees were being earmarked for reform.

It came in response to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s plans to abolish tuition fees, as he made the issue a major political battleground in June’s election campaign.

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Drop maximum fee

And i can reveal that Number 10 has been given the green light by Treasury officials to cut the fee, as it will lower the costs for writing off student loans that are not repaid.

Sources have said that cutting fees to £6k a year is “feasible”, but Number 1o has yet to decide on its preferred course of action.

“The Treasury are happy to drop the maximum fee, if it makes the RAB [Resource Accounting and Budgeting] charge lower,” a well-placed source said.

The RAB charge is the estimated cost to the Government of borrowing to support the student finance system.

Economists at the Institute for Fiscal Studies have warned that more than three-quarters of students will never fully repay their loans. The predictions have left the Treasury increasingly eager to limit the cost to the taxpayer.

Skills incentive

A senior Conservative source confirmed to i they had heard “indications” of the Government’s plans, which also included providing more incentives to increase the take up of “skills-based degrees”, such as those in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects.

It is understood that further reforms to Further Education funding will also be included in the changes.

Last month, universities minister Sam Gyimah hinted of a cut to fees when he told an audience in East London that the forthcoming review would investigate whether the higher annual charge of £9,250 “works across the system”.

According to Mrs May’s former chief of staff Nick Timothy, the Prime Minister’s attempts to cut fees were blocked by Justine Greening, who was the Education Secretary before her sacking last month.

As exclusively revealed by this newspaper, Ms Greening preferred the option of bringing back student maintenance grants, which are offered to the poorest pupils.

Gift to middle classes

And further concerns have been raised from Tory backbenchers about a blanket cut to fees.

Robert Halfon, Tory chair of the education select committee, warned that cutting fees would simply be a “gift to the middle classes”.

“If we are going to overhaul fees it has to work for the most disadvantaged students. Too many students are getting paltry returns from attending university,” he added.

The Government said it would not comment on speculation.