Art School criticised for plan to introduce £9,000-a-year fees

STUDENT leaders have criticised Glasgow School of Art after it became the latest institution to announce it would charge undergraduates from England, Wales and Northern Ireland £9,000 a year for their degree.

The prestigious art school, whose alumni include the likes of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, John Byrne and Alasdair Gray, joined Aberdeen University and Heriot-Watt in saying no student would pay more than £27,000 for a four-year course.

However, students from the rest of the UK who want to study architecture will pay a total of £45,450 for the six-year course.

Professor Seona Reid, the GSA’s director, said: “We have aimed for fairness and parity in the cost of studying in our disciplines in equivalent institutions across the rest of the UK, whilst seeking to ensure that the impact of the new fees regime does not have the unintended consequence of reducing the income available to GSA from 2012.”

But Robin Parker, president of National Union of Students in Scotland, said: “It’s disappointing… Tuition fees make university more about your bank balance than your ability.”