Is the government considering cutting tuition fees

Is the government considering cutting tuition fees If theres one thing Ive learnt from following the ups and downs of UK tuition fees over the years, its to never get your hopes up. The big tuition fees debate gets wheeled out time and time again, with Labour promising to completely scrap them in last years election. It proved a popular policy, and helped them secure a huge student vote. Are the Conservatives finally catching on? The i have reported that the Treasury have cleared the way for the prime minister to cut tuition fees by as much as a third. Yes, a whole third! Theyve apparently said that reducing tuition fees to 6k a year instead of the current £9,250 is feasible. But wheres all this coming from? Unpaid debts As things stand, its predicted that over three-quarters of students will never pay off their student loans. Because lets face it, theyre absolutely huge AND accumulating interest. And we cant all turn out to be millionaires. Current policy states that after 30 years, all unpaid student loans will be written off. But that debt doesnt just disappear someone has to pay it, and that will fall to the government. If we dont want the bill to fall at taxpayers feet, something has to be done. Prioritising degrees Nothings set in stone, but theres also been murmurings of the government using tuition fees to incentivise certain degrees. They want more students to take up skills-based degrees in STEM subjects science, technology, maths and engineering. Doing so would be a huge move, the first time any degree subject has been prioritised over another. Theres no doubt that skills shortages do exist, but are tuition fees the best way of rectifying this? It certainly looks like the UK higher education system could be about to receive a major shake up. The right move? We all automatically assume that cutting tuition fees is a good thing. And in many ways it is. But some have argued that cutting tuition fees isnt the main problem here. Former Education Secretary Justine Greening argued that bringing back maintenance grants was a better way to go. These grants meant that students from lower income backgrounds didnt graduate with more debt than their wealthier peers. Since theyve been scrapped, some students are graduating with upwards of £50,000 in debt. Robert Halfon, the Tory chair of the education select committee, argued that cutting tuition fees would just be a gift to the middle classes, and wouldnt necessarily benefit students from other backgrounds. So whats the best solution here? There isnt an easy answer, but if the government are going to cut tuition fees, they also need to make the student finance system fairer for all, and thats going to take a lot more work. Connect with Debut on  Facebook,  Twitter,  and  LinkedIn  for more careers insights.