Caving into EU demands to cut tuition fees for European students under a proposed youth mobility deal could leave the UK’s cash-strapped universities £580m out of pocket, new modelling suggests.
Top universities are urging Sir Keir Starmer to resist Brussels’ demands for a new “youth experience” scheme to include a discount for EU under-30s studying in the UK and vice versa, due to the cost.
They warned that charging EU students domestic rather than higher international fees would further squeeze university finances, undermine research investment and economic growth, and lessen the benefits of recent deals with Brussels on the Erasmus exchange and the Horizon science programmes.
In interviews with The i Paper last month, key UK and EU figures highlighted divisions between the two sides over the proposed youth visa scheme.
UK Brexit reset minister Nick Thomas-Symonds claimed that lowering university fees was “not something that’s up for discussion”, but EU ambassador to Britain Pedro Serrano suggested home fees were necessary to ensure British universities are “accessible” to “normal” European citizens.
A diplomatic headache
But there are fears in the university sector that Thomas-Symonds could give ground on fees to unlock deals in other areas of the Prime Minister’s so-called Brexit “reset”, including a flagship agreement on food and drink trade to keep supermarket prices down.
Suggestions from EU sources of a compromise, with fees set between domestic and international rates, are seen by the sector as administratively unworkable and a potential diplomatic headache for the Government.
The Russell Group of elite universities has carried out modelling, shared exclusively with The i Paper, showing that lowering tuition fees to domestic levels would cost the UK higher education sector around £580m, based on the current number of EU students in Britain.
The modelling is based on 2023/24 Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) data – the most recently available university finance data.
Post-Brexit EU undergraduate student fees in the UK currently range between £11,400 and £32,000 a year, according to figures highlighted by The Migration Observatory in June 2025. Home student fees stand at £9,535 a year.
Hollie Chandler, director of policy at the prestigious Russell Group, described the youth experience scheme as a potential “win-win outcome with real benefits for young people”.
Universities already under pressure
But she added that, in her view, the Government needs to stand firm against the EU’s call for its students to pay domestic rates.
“Granting home fee status to EU students would have a bigger impact on university finances than the proposed tax on international student income, and would come at a time when universities are already under significant financial pressure.
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“Taking another £580m out of UK higher education would put investment in teaching and R&D [research and development] at further risk, potentially damaging economic growth.
“It would also risk the ability of universities to make the most of the UK’s association with Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe – programmes that bring opportunities to universities, researchers and young people, and are critical for a strong long-term UK-EU relationship.”
She added: “We’ve long been in favour of closer ties with the rest of Europe – but for universities to play their full part, they have to be financially sustainable.”
As well as differences on fees, the UK and EU are also trying to strike a compromise on how many visas are issued under a youth experience scheme, with London demanding a cap on numbers but Brussels pushing for an unlimited deal.
The Times reported on Friday that British negotiators were proposing a “balancing mechanism”, that could see the youth experience scheme expand above any hard cap, in a bid to reach a compromise with the EU.
The i Paper has previously reported EU sources indicating a willingness to agree a cap as long as there was a mechanism for regular reviews to see if the scheme could be expanded in future.
A UK Government spokesman said: “We are working together with the EU to create a balanced youth experience scheme which will create new opportunities for young people to live, work, study and travel.
“Any final scheme must be time-limited, capped and should be based on our existing youth mobility schemes, which do not include access to home tuition fee status.
“We will not give a running commentary on ongoing talks.”
Responding to the Russell Group’s modelling, a spokesman for the EU Delegation in the UK said they would not comment on ongoing negotiations.
