Exclusive:Poll reveals levels of support for SNP's free university tuition policy - and for a funding commission

The SNP says it is ‘proud’ to have abolished tuition fees after seeing support amongst the public for the policy.

The majority of Scots are strongly in favour of maintaining free university tuition - but are calling for a commission to be set up to examine how higher education is funded.

A new poll by Survation has found 57 per cent of Scots say they “strongly” or “somewhat” support free tuition in Scotland. By comparison, only 17 per cent of people interviewed said they opposed the flagship SNP policy.

A graduation ceremony at University Campus Suffolk in Ipswich. Picture: Chris Radburn | Chris Radburn

The poll also found support is higher amongst women and that support for free tuition grows the more academic qualifications a person has.

Support for the policy, which according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies costs the Scottish Government around £900 million a year, is highest amongst Scottish Green voters, followed by SNP voters.

Subscribe to the Steamie newsletter for the best daily political analysis

On top of this, support for the policy is above 50 per cent for almost all generations except the ones most likely to currently be at university - those between the ages of 16 and 24.

Only 46 per cent of this age group said they support free tuition fees.

The poll was carried out for public affairs agency True North, with 1,012 people in Scotland aged 16 and over interviewed online from May 2-5.

Broken up by region, 90 per cent of respondents living in Lothian, which has one of the highest concentrations of higher education institutions in Scotland, said they support the policy. In the north-east, which includes cash-strapped Dundee University, 85 per cent of people support free tuition.

The region with the lowest level of support is Mid Scotland and Fife, which includes St Andrews University and Perth College UHI.

SNP MSP George Adam said: “The SNP is proud to have abolished tuition fees in Scotland and is the only party which can be trusted to make sure that access to further and higher education is based on the ability to learn, not the ability to pay.

Jane Barlow/Press Association

“History has shown that the Labour Party cannot be trusted on tuition fees. Whether in Scotland, England or Wales, fees have gone up under Labour governments.

“Under the SNP, we have record numbers of Scottish students securing places at our universities, and recent figures showed a rise in students from our most disadvantaged communities.

“This progress has only been made possible because the SNP abolished Labour’s tuition fees and we will never let them be reimposed on Scotland’s students.”

One in two Scots (49 per cent) surveyed said they want to see a new commission being set up to examine the existing funding model for universities.

A number of universities have declared financial crises over the past month, not least Dundee University, which is cutting over 600 jobs in a bid to plug a £35m deficit.

Professor Shane O’Neill, the university’s interim principal and vice-chancellor, said the crisis was partly down to the Scottish Government’s underfunding of higher education.

Miles Briggs, the Scottish Conservatives’ education spokesman, said: “Years of cuts from the SNP have had a devastating impact on the finances of Scotland’s leading universities.

Miles Briggs MSP

“Ministers cannot continue to bury their heads in the sand and must look at ways of addressing these issues, which could include setting up a commission on future funding models.

“It is clear from this poll that Sots are keen for the SNP to act before the crisis in our universities escalates even further.”

Only 45 per cent of Conservative voters said they support free tuition fees.

The Scottish Government has been approached for comment.