Will my uni fees rise next year? What is a V-level? Your questions answered

What questions do you have about university tuition fees and V-levels?

The government has published its new white paper, and there's big news in it for students going to university or college.

We now know both tuition fees and maintenance loans for university students will increase with inflation every year from 2026.

And for students finishing their GCSEs, new courses called V-levels will be introduced alongside A-levels and T-levels.

Lots of you have sent in questions about how it's all going to work. We answer them below.

I start uni next year - will my fees rise?

We had this question via Your Voice Your BBC News.

The answer is yes. Tuition fees will rise from 2026 onwards, so we expect that those starting university in 2026 will have higher fees.

The exact amount students will be charged is unknown at the moment - as it depends on what the rate of inflation is.

The inflation measure used - the Retail Price Index minus mortgage payments, or RPIx - is likely to be the one used for next year's and future increases.

If it was done at the current rate, fees would rise by approximately £400 a year, to over £9,900.

Will this mean pay rises for university staff?

This is unclear and the situation is different for each university - though lots of them have experienced financial difficulties of some kind in recent years.

A professor from Coventry University who spoke to BBC News on Monday said it was a "good thing" that tuition fees were rising, but that "under no circumstances will it solve the problem" around university finances.

And the University and College Union has a lot to say on this too. General secretary Jo Grady accuses Labour of having "doubled down on the disastrous tuition-fees funding model, which created the crisis the sector is currently facing".

She says the union wants to see "proper public funding" for higher education, and a resolution to the current dispute over "low pay, vicious job cuts and poor working conditions, and the impact this has on students' learning experience".

But Universities UK, which represents 141 universities, says it offers "a much-needed reset for our university system".

Chief executive Vivienne Stern says raising fees in line with inflation will "help to halt the long-term erosion of universities' financial sustainability, following a decade of fee freezes".

What about students from lower income backgrounds, or those who are the first in their family to go to university?

This is another question that came in through Your Voice Your BBC News.

You do not have to start repaying your loan until you earn a certain amount of money after graduation. You generally repay 9% of the amount you earn above this threshold.

Maintenance loans will also rise with inflation.

One student told the BBC News social team: "As someone who gets the maximum maintenance loan, it just means that as someone who comes from a poorer background, I will have more debt to pay off than someone who comes from a middle-class background who has more parental support."

The government recently announced that maintenance grants will return for some students from lower-income households by 2029.

The grants will apply to "tens of thousands" of students, targeted at those "studying priority courses that support the industrial strategy and the Labour government's wider mission to renew Britain," Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said.

The government said the new grants would be funded by a tax on international student fees, which will only apply to higher education providers in England.

The longer-term impact on how higher fees will impact those from lower-income families will be something education experts will be keeping a close eye on.

The government says it wants two-thirds of young people to go to university or study a technical qualification after leaving school.

What about the cap on fees for underperforming universities?

Bridget Phillipson said on Monday that "charging full fees will be conditional on high quality teaching".

Those universities who do not do so will not be able to charge maximum fees.

She added that it is a "challenge to our universities" to "drive out low quality provision".

One person asked Your Voice Your BBC News if this could result in students from working class backgrounds attending these institutions in an attempt to save money, creating a "two-tier system based on who can afford the higher fees".

There is still a lot of uncertainty around exactly how the performance of universities will be assessed, and how much those who underperform will be able to charge.

What the impact on students will be is yet to be seen.

What about V-levels? Why are they being introduced?

V-levels will replace qualifications like BTecs and will sit alongside T-Levels and A-Levels

Lots of you were asking this on BBC News's TikTok page.

V-levels are being introduced to replace and simplify the current vocational qualifications system, and "open up more high-quality routes for young people", the government says.

It says that V-levels will "replace the wide range of qualifications that are not A-levels or T-levels and streamline the currently confusing landscape of approximately 900 qualifications at this level".

When will V-levels arrive?

Another question from socials now.

We're not completely sure when the rollout will be, but the government says that V-levels will be introduced from 2027.

There will be a consultation on what the courses should look like with experts and stakeholders before rolling them out, the government says.

What does this mean for BTecs and their credibility?

We've had this question on our TikTok, from a student worried about hers.

Qualifications you already have, or are currently studying will still be worth the same - even once the new V-levels come in. So try not to worry about that.

When announcing the changes, Bridget Phillipson said vocational education was the "backbone" of the country's economy, and central to breaking the link between background and success, helping hundreds of thousands of young people get the skills they need to get good jobs.

"But for too long it has been an afterthought," she said.

She thinks the new V-levels will help to change that.

What if I'm currently doing a BTec?

Lots of current BTec students have asked us this on TikTok too.

V-levels won't be introduced until 2027, the government says, and we currently don't know what subjects they will be in.

Pearson - the exam board that delivers BTecs - says it will continue to deliver all its current vocational qualifications, while it joins the consultation with the Department for Education and Ofqual as part of the creation of the new courses.

Subjects will be linked to the world of work and may include sectors like engineering, agriculture, digital and creative sectors, the government says.

The Sixth Form Colleges Association has warned that V-levels may not fill the gap left by BTecs, and has said that the government's priority should be to make sure that schools and colleges can still enroll students on BTecs until the new V-levels are up and running.

And it's worth remembering that V-levels will be Level 3 courses - the same as A-levels or T-levels - so they shouldn't impact Level 2 BTecs, which are taken with GCSEs.