English universities ‘will have to cut student fees’

FEARS over Scottish universities suffering from a funding gap compared with rivals south of the Border are set to ease after a leading think-tank warned many English institutions will face having to cut fees within two years to avoid losing students.

University principals north of the Border have expressed widespread concern over a predicted £263 million gap within the next four years. English universities are now able to charge fees of up to £9,000 a year for tuition fees to make up shortfalls in funding, while the Scottish Government has insisted it has no intention of charging Scottish students.

However, a new study by the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) has predicted that most universities would be obliged, within a year or two, to reduce fees to £7,500 or would quickly become “unviable”, losing 8 per cent or more of their students every year.

It has warned that the UK government’s higher education white paper is based on “highly optimistic assumptions”, adding that proposed fee systems could also lead to an “arms race” for high achieving students.

The SNP government is committed to providing free higher education to students based in Scotland, a pledge supported by Labour and the Liberal Democrats at the recent election.

Those pledges came despite warnings from the principals that a dramatic funding gap would emerge between Scotland and England.

The Hepi report, which is published today, says plans to reduce student number allocations for universities charging more than £6,000 but allow them to take unlimited numbers of “high achieving” students, could bring “unwelcome” consequences for the UK government, universities, and students.

It says fee cuts by some universities to avoid losing students could lead to a “polarised sector”, with some charging the top fee of £9,000 and the majority charging £7,500 or less.

“Students in the former will pay more – but they will have a better experience, with much more resources devoted to them,” Hepi said.

“However, even institutions in the £9,000 category will not have a comfortable time, as they will need to provide increasingly generous financial inducements to AAB+ students in order to avoid losing them to other universities that offer such inducements.”

The Nationalist administration at Holyrood has announced it will allow Scottish universities to charge non-Scottish UK students up to £9,000 in fees, in line with the levels south of the Border, although the most recent estimate last month was that the funding gap between Scottish and English universities would be £263m by 2014-15.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The Scottish Government has ensured that Scottish students will not pay tuition fees; we’ve protected places for Scottish students; and we are enabling our universities to remain competitive by proposing to introduce fees for students from the rest of the UK in response to the market created in England and Wales.”

A spokesman for Universities Scotland said: “We are continuing to work closely with the Scottish Government to determine what impact the UK government’s higher education reforms for universities south of the Border will have on our shared ambition that Scottish universities remain internationally competitive and truly excellent in world terms.