'Increasing tuition fees will put people off university'

9 May 2025

Robbie Meredith

BBC News NI education and arts correspondent

Beth says any increase in tuition fees will hit working-class students the hardest

BBC Beth has long, light brown hair which goes down past her shoulders and is smiling at the camera. She is wearing a maroon school jacket, a grey v-neck jumper, a white collared shirt and a tie with a crest on it. She is sitting in an empty classroom, with a wooden desk behind her, as well as some desktop computers sitting along the sides of the room. — Beth says any increase in tuition fees will hit working-class students the hardest

Increasing tuition fees in Northern Ireland will deter people from applying to university, some sixth formers have said.

It comes after leaders of Northern Ireland's five universities and university colleges called for tuition fees to rise by more than £1,000 a year.

They have written to the leaders of the five main political parties asking for the fees to rise to £5,831 a year from the current £4,750.

It is signed by the heads of Queen's University Belfast (QUB), Ulster University (UU) and the Open University in Ireland (OU), and ed by a separate letter from the principals of St Mary's University College and Stranmillis University College.

BBC News NI spoke to pupils at Belfast Girls' Model School in north Belfast.