Compulsory Education (Ages 5-16) are entirely free and provided via the government (via taxes, obviously).
You do have to purchase some things, like basic scationary and a school uniform (Some schools don't have a uniform)
The only other costs in their are additional things, like school trips, stationary, school meals (which are free for certain families under certain incomes) and some extracurricular activities as well as for materials provided by the school, like food items for Food Technology classes.
Non-Compulsory Education: (Sixth Form/College [A Level Studies])
This is free for the ages of 16-19, but additional costs are there too.
Text Books and equipment can cost money depending on the cost.
For me so far my First Year courses cost me £40 in books for 4 courses. This year has cost me £40, despite being for 3 courses instead of 4.
There are additional costs for trips and activities.
Costs for food, although you could go without food...
Costs for stationary equipment depending on courses.
Costs for additional equipment for certain courses (Beauty courses have costs for materials, in some science classes you have to purchase your own lab coat, some mechanics courses require costs for some materials and also for uniform)
Then there are the costs of retaking examinations if need be, which can stack up, since you pay per module per course, and different Examination Boards charge different prices.
For example, I'm retaking one module in January for my Classical Civilisation course, in order to improve from a B to an A, to improve my overall grade at the end of this year. It has cost me £20.
And, if you go to these courses (A Levels) while at the age of 19 or over (If you are 19 when you apply, you are charged, if 18 when apply but turn 19 during the year [Like I will], then it's free), you have to pay for the tuition.
Which can be as high as £4000 per course.
Non-Compulsory Education: (University)
This has a maximum fee for tuition at £9000 in the UK (Unless of course you're Scottish in Scotland, or from the EU, in which case you unfairly get it for free). This is per year.
Then there are the costs of living, which includes housing (Living in Halls of Residence for the first year and then living in private rented accomodation afterwards), there are maintenance courses, and then the costs of food and heating and electricity and water and council taxes and all sorts.
And likely more...
And then you have to pay for additional charges within the course, sometimes, which can be additional equipment (such as lab coats or electronics equipment or other stuff), and then there is the costs of stationary for you.
And if you take part in University Clubs/Activities, then you have prices for this too, although these are entirely optional (But often recommended, since University is also for social learning as well as academic learning).
You may also have years during your course where you end up going abroad or to other cities to work for a year, where there is all the price involved in living in those areas.
Most of this is paid for via a Student Loan, which is quite nice in that you don't have to pay it off until you're earning a minimum annual income, which if you have gone through University and done all this, then you should get a job to pay it back. Otherwise it's a debt that doesn't affect you.
And I think there is a certain point that at a certain age or time it's all wiped clean.
So even though the costs of University has gone up, it's still worth it to go. Ultimately you ought to get a job capable of providing you with enough money to pay off the debt. If you don't get a job capable of that, then you don't pay anything back.
And then there is likely all sorts of other stuff too. I'm not a University student (although my brother is), so I don't know the whole costs and things.
Ultimately, Education does come out reasonably expensive, but the whole point of it all is that you have the education to get a job to earn back/pay back the money. If you don't, then you've wasted the education (And if you've gone to further education, then you've wasted some money)
