Call for reintroduction of university tuition fees

Published on Thursday 10 September 2009 12:21

TUITION fees should be reintroduced in Scotland for students who can afford to pay them, a former university principal said today.

Lord Sutherland said the money should go partly towards providing scholarships for disadvantaged students.

The former principal and vice-chancellor of the University of Edinburgh said a "postcode lottery" still exists in some places when it comes to entering higher education.

His call came as university leaders from across the UK gathered in the Scottish capital for their annual conference.

Lord Sutherland, who is also a former vice chancellor of the University of London, told BBC Radio Scotland: "South of the border they have fees. I believe they will increase the range of fees paid and Scottish universities will be less competitive as a result. That's just fact.

"One of the things universities do with their money is provide help and support for students who need the cash. Now I don't think there's going to be, in squeezed budgets, room to expand that in the way we should.

"If the fees are paid by those who can afford it – and some can because they've been paying very expensive school fees at private schools – then there's more room for universities to provide money for scholarships."

Up-front tuition fees were scrapped in Scotland by the first Scottish Executive.

Lord Sutherland said that university participation rates in Scotland have increased "dramatically", but he said more people from less well-off backgrounds should be going on to higher education.

"I think what you have to look at is the fact that in certain parts there's effectively a postcode lottery," he told Good Morning Scotland.

"That's not on talent. Talent is spread across the whole community. It is on school results, so there's a gap there to be bridged."

Lord Sutherland said his plan was about heightening the aspirations of all students, and suggested more work also needed to be done at school level.

He said: "I think what's also needed is more help for schools in areas of some difficulty – that's where I think the Government has to be a partner.

"One of the key things is giving aspiration to students. One of the others is making sure that they get enough to overcome perhaps difficulties that other pupils don't have.

"That means, I think, more teachers in those classrooms."

The educationalist acknowledged that his proposals would not be universally popular.

He said: "It won't be welcomed by some and turkeys don't vote for Christmas, so I can understand that.

"But we have to decide how many people we want to go to university in Scotland."

He added: "You have to decide, of those, have you got a spread of where the talent really is?"

A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: "We believe that access to education should be based on the ability to learn, not the ability to pay and have made clear that we are opposed to students having to pay tuition fees in Scotland."

Labour's higher education spokeswoman Claire Baker said the SNP has failed to address the issue of talented youngsters not going to university, or having to drop out, because of financial hardship.

She said: "Labour recognises that there must be more financial support for students from lower income backgrounds going to university and that is why we are calling on the SNP to deliver a 7,000 minimum income for the poorest students and a 500 increase to the young person's bursary."

Calling for an independent review of university funding, she said: "The SNP are failing to deliver the funding that Scottish universities need to remain competitive in the UK and internationally and they are failing to address student hardship."