Corbyn would scrap tuition fees from this September – but Clegg demands they stay

New university students will be able to start courses without the burden of fees from as soon as this autumn if Labour wins the general election.

Jeremy Corbyn has pledged to abolish tuition fees – which today cost up to £9,000 – if he scores a surprise victory on June 8.

While the charges would be scrapped from 2018, due to the time taken to pass legislation in the Commons, Labour has said it will write off the first year of fees for people starting courses this September.

The radical reform would mark the first time in nearly two decades in which young people had begun courses for free at English universities.

Today, in a bizarre move, Nick Clegg came out in opposition to Corbyn’s pledge to scrap the measure and said it was the “wrong choice”.

Clegg led his party to electoral meltdown after the last election after the Lib Dems promised in 2010 not to raise tuition fees and then immediately reneged on their pledge when they joined the coalition.

This morning Corbyn and Angela Rayner said they would scrap fees completely, which were first introduced under Tony Blair.

Labour said the move would mean 400,000 university students would be freed from an average of around £27,000 debt this autumn.

The effect would be to lift a cumulative £38bn in debt from fees over the course of the next parliament, before interest is added, the party said.

“The Conservatives have held students back for too long, saddling them with debt that blights the start of their working lives. Labour will lift this cloud of debt and make education free for all as part of our plan for a richer Britain for the many not the few,” Corbyn said.

“We will scrap tuition fees and ensure universities have the resources they need to continue to provide a world-class education. Students will benefit from having more money in their pockets, and we will all benefit from the engineers, doctors, teachers and scientists that our universities produce.”