First the good news, then the bad, for Scotland's cash-strapped universities

Published on Thursday 24 March 2011 17:24

Scotland's universities had a 5.3 per cent increase in their income last year, according to new figures.

However, their leaders expect to see a decrease in funding next year.

The statistics, published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency, showed total income rose to 2,663,531 in 2009-10.

In a breakdown of where the funding came from, the greatest increase was in tuition fees, which in Scotland are mostly for postgraduate courses or overseas students, which rose 12.6 per cent.

Funding grants from government rose by 3 per cent but cash from endowments and investments fell by 33.7 per cent - probably due to the recession and the falling value of investments.

Universities Scotland director Alastair Sim said: "Universities have fulfilled their part in making this fundamental contribution to Scotland's success by pursuing diverse sources of competitive income - for this to continue depends on political commitment to addressing the serious funding gap which now faces our universities."

The total of UK higher education institutions last year was 26.8 billion. Funding bodies provided 9bn, with 8.3bn from tuition fees and education contracts.