Primrose Kitten

Now that we’ve introduced them, it should be noted that tuition fees in the U.K. have become rather controversial. Working out how much you'll pay in tuition fees in the U.K. is a complicated mix of where you come from, what university you attend, what year you're in, and what type of course you are taking.

Home students are British and other European Union citizens, and the level of fees the university charges these home students is regulated by the government. These can change on a yearly basis according to the university rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). The TEF gives grades of gold, silver and bronze to successful universities, which allows them to raise fees in line with inflation.

If you do a sandwich course—taking a year away from the university—then you'll probably be able to pay a reduced level of fees for that year even though you'll have very little to do with the university during your time away.

For international students, I'm afraid there are no guidelines or limits when it comes to fees. It is a free market, and the universities can charge whatever they think they can get away with charging. This ranges from £12,000 a year for a lecture-based course up to £25,000 a year for practical courses like science, computer science, architecture, or medicine.

If you're an international student, your fees may vary depending on what year you are currently enrolled in. For example, if your first year is lecture-based, your payment may be on the lower end of the spectrum; once your courses become more practical-based (for example, if your final year is completely lab-based), then your fees may be much higher in the last year than they were in the first year.