The most up-to-date figures from the Scottish government show that bursaries have been slashed, particularly from onwards, while Scottish students have become more and more reliant on loans they have to pay back. The graph below shows that, while the cost of covering fees for Scottish students has increased year on year from onwards, the way students are supported is gradually shifting from grants to loans. Additionally, Sturgeon's own poverty adviser has criticised a year low in the number of Scottish students at colleges, saying the results showed university funding had received "greater protection from hard financial times".
One major problem with free tuition is that the government is forced to cap the number of students who can take it. Even if demand for university places was to increase, therefore, it couldn't be matched with available places.
Academics have argued that the cap on student places has led to a halt in the growth of Scotland's universities, whereas in England, where a cap doesn't apply, it has allowed universities to expand with the demand for places. The Sutton Trust report states that the best chance of getting students from poorer backgrounds into university is when universities are expanding, as "under such conditions they are not striving to displace middle class students". Partly because of the cap, as the two graphs below show, the acceptance rate in Scotland is around 10 percentage points lower than it is in England, despite applications for uni places steadily growing in both countries.
Ultimately, the cap on student numbers in Scotland means there's fiercer competition for places than there is in England, which disadvantages nontraditional students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Because of free tuition, Scottish students tend to leave university with much less debt than their counterparts in England — but that doesn't mean they are left with no loans to pay back at all. At Glasgow University, the proportion of Scottish students fell by nine per cent between and , and continues to fall.
This can be explained by the fact that the Scottish Government has effectively cut university funding by six percent over the last five years. This all paints a rather stark picture of the state of higher education in Scotland. University currently works for middle and upper class students who get a free ride through their degrees, graduating with little to no debt. Nonetheless, we have seen time and time again the SNP government failing to live up to its promise of progressive politics.
The government is guilty of an irresponsible disregard for social mobility and education among the poor from a policy only held from an obsession to stand in self-righteous opposition to Westminster. This policy is supported by Universities Scotland, although it is remaining neutral in the independence debate. Alastair Sim, its director says: "We have been consistently clear that the UK government's current policy on immigration makes universities uncompetitive in the market for international students and that its rhetoric on immigration has been highly damaging.
But Pittock believes this will only be delivered by an independent Scottish government. Scottish independence could threaten free tuition for its students. If Scotland were an independent member of the EU, it would be forced to re-think its fee arrangements Read more: Scottish universities braced for brain drain if country votes for independence.
Political parties both within Scotland and across the UK continue to debate and campaign on different ways of funding university teaching. Charging students for access to higher education is a subject that divides opinion. In the past, when tuition fees were introduced at UK level and then the graduate endowment was introduced in Scotland, there were means tests that were intended to limit, to some extent at least, the financial impact on lower earning households. In Scotland, the commitment to fee-free tuition to eligible students is likely to continue as long as the SNP remains in power.
At the point that the political landscape changes, the question of students contributing to the cost of higher education will again be open for consideration. It is not at all a foregone conclusion that the current policy would remain in place under a new political administration.
And while many would argue that it should continue, there are some across the political landscape that would see such a change as positive. Skip to content. This blog reflects on the debate about tuition fees in Scotland in the period since devolution.
Free tuition: a political priority Since coming to power in May , the SNP has consistently supported a policy of free tuition for Scottish resident full time degree students. Tuition fees in Scotland: to There was a period of upheaval in tuition fee policy in Scotland between and , which in large part was framed by the preceding UK policy developments emerging from the work of the National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education.
Free higher education? Generally speaking, the following criteria require to be met in order to be eligible : The student has to be living in Scotland not just here for the purposes of accessing education.
The course has to be at the appropriate qualification level and lead to a recognised qualification. The course has to be delivered by a publicly funded institution in Scotland. The student cannot have previously been funded to take part in a course at the same or a higher level. The student has to be studying full time at undergraduate level — students on students on part-time programmes and pursuing postgraduate qualifications have different tuition fee arrangements.
How is university tuition funded? Scottish Funding Council block grant The first source is the block teaching grant issued each year by the Scottish Government to the Scottish Funding Council SFC for onward distribution to each university. Dual funding approach This dual funding model is a legacy from when tuition was free across the UK.
Capping student numbers Given the role of public funding in higher education teaching in Scotland, there is an annual cap on the number of funded places that can be offered to eligible students. Impact on Scottish applicants In terms of the impact on Scottish students, this means that Scottish universities can only offer an agreed number of places to eligible students on eligible programmes.
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