Andy Burnham has been accused by the SNP of "hiking" English university tuition fees to record levels, after new figures showed costs have risen by 879% since fees were introduced in 1998. The criticism is pointed given Burnham's own 2015 Labour leadership campaign pledge to scrap tuition fees in favour of a graduate tax, which he argued would "lift the millstone of debt" from students, making the current increases politically awkward for him.

English undergraduates now pay £9,790 a year, up from £1,000 when Tony Blair's government created fees, and House of Commons library research shows students taking maximum loans could owe around £70,000, rising to £81,000 in London. Graduates in England in 2025 left university with average debt of £53,010, compared with just £17,990 for Scottish graduates, who pay no tuition fees. SNP spokesperson Kirsty Blackman accused Burnham of breaking his promises, while the Department for Education said it inherited a "broken and unfair" loan system and pointed to increased maintenance loans and reintroduced maintenance grants as steps to improve fairness.