Applications slump at Scots universities

Published on Saturday 9 July 2011 13:20

SCOTTISH universities have received 5,000 fewer applications from students south of the Border wanting to take their degrees in Scotland amid claims that the recession and uncertainty over fees are causing undergraduates to stay closer to home.

Official figures published last week on the total number of applications made for entry in the new academic year in September confirm a 15 per cent fall in the numbers of English students seeking to come north. The number of Welsh students thinking of studying in Scotland has also dropped by 10 per cent.

Although figures on the number of students who accept places are not yet available, the slump in applications - from 32,429 to 27,631 - has prompted warnings about the potential financial impact on Scottish institutions caused by a drop in the numbers of fee-paying English students. Currently, students from the rest of the UK make up 14 per cent of the total number of students attending Scotland's universities.

The latest figures follow the announcement by SNP education secretary Mike Russell two weeks ago that Scottish universities will be able to charge up to 9,000 a year to English students - the cap put on fees in England - to avoid a flood of "fee refugees" seeking places in a cheaper Scotland.

Russell hopes the fees paid by English students - up to 36,000 for a four-year degree course - will help fill the estimated 200 million funding gap that has opened up between universities north and south of the Border after the UK coalition government opted to allow universities in the south to charge higher fees.

However, a drop in English student numbers could damage those calculations, leaving Scottish universities with a major funding shortfall. Higher education sources said last night that this may now force Scottish universities to lower their fees to attract more students from England.

This year's drop in applications comes before the new fee regime comes into operation and, therefore, cannot be attributed to any increase in fees which students will have to pay from 2012. September's intake will continue to pay 1,800 a year, less than the 3,000 a year figure they will pay if they remain in England.

Universities said last night that the drop in applications showed that factors other than tuition fee finance were affecting the flow of students. Annual maintenance costs are often 25 per cent higher as many Scottish courses last for four rather than three years.

A spokeswoman for Universities Scotland said: "In a recession, students may be looking to stay closer to home. There are a lot of costs for these students coming from England and that may be convincing them to stay nearer home."

She added: "Scottish universities will now be looking to see the numbers of students coming north and they will be looking to set their prices in a way that makes it in the English students' interest to come north."

The Scottish Tories, who support a backdated tuition fee for Scottish students after graduation, warned last night that the drop in applications showed that a finance system based on English tuition fees flowing north was flawed.

Liz Smith, education spokeswoman, said: "It shows that we shouldn't put all our eggs in one basket. It is a very dangerous plan to base everything on that. The SNP has put forward this firm commitment on free Higher Education, but they haven't thought it through."

However, a spokesman for the Scottish Government said it was premature to say what the final numbers of students getting places in Scotland would be. He said: "Since 2003-04, final entrant figures for English students have remained between 6,400 and 8,400. We don't expect this to change."

He added that the new charging system was put in place to meet principal's demand for a higher income: "Universities wanted a flexible and variable system where they are responsible for setting fees and managing course fees for students from the rest of the UK in line with the interests, needs and ambitions of their institutions and their students in order to compete with the market created in England."

A spokesperson for the Scottish Funding Council said: "It's important to realise that these early figures show applications and not acceptances. There's a long way to go yet - through exam results, the Ucas clearing system and final acceptances - before anyone will be able to see what the final picture will be, and it may be very different from what these figures show."

Last week, Russell insisted that students from the rest of the UK would not be given priority over Scottish applicants even though they will bring with them more funding.

The education secretary insisted: "There is a guarantee of a certain number of places for Scottish students. They (principals] are not going to and will not be preferring the cheque in the hand."

Russell also argued that there was no choice but to allow Scottish universities to charge English students or risk being seen as a cheap option.

In such a scenario, he said: "We wouldn't get Scottish students getting into those universities, we would have to pay those (English] fees and we'd go bust. We can't possibly do that."