Scottish universities see fall in number of Scottish students

Figures from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service showed a 1.3 per cent fall in the number of Scottish undergraduates in the past five years.

During the same period, however, there was a near-60 per cent rise in the number of students from elsewhere in the EU and a more modest 2.1 per cent rise in students from the rest of the UK.

The figures also showed an almost 30 per cent rise in the number of foreign students from outwith the EU, who pay a higher levels of fees.

It led to calls for the Scottish Government to get to grips with the issue of rising numbers of EU students amid fears that Scots could be being squeezed out.

EU students are exempt from fees, which will rise to as much as £9,000 a year for students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland next year.

However, Education Secretary Mike Russell has previously talked about introducing an annual “service charge” for EU students studying in Scotland.

Claire Baker, Labour’s education spokeswoman, said: “EU students make a valuable contribution to student life in Scotland – we want to see cosmopolitan campuses – but it has to be sustainable.

“The SNP’s education secretary has spoken of new charges for EU students but he failed to explain these so-called ‘management fees’ in his statement on higher education on 29 June or in his statement on post-16 reform on 14 September.

“There was no mention of Mike Russell’s proposal in the finance secretary’s spending review either.”

Under figures collated and released by the Higher Education Statistics Agency yesterday, it also emerged that the annual income of Scotland’s universities from tuition fees fell from £218 million in 2005/6 to £215m in 2009/10. During the same period, England’s universities saw a rise from £1.8 billion to £3.3bn.

Robin Parker, president of the National Union of Students in Scotland, said: “We know that increasing university places are incredibly important, both in terms of strengthening our economy but also in terms of building a fairer Scotland, too.

“It’s therefore very worrying to see a decrease in the numbers of Scottish students studying at universities in Scotland. The Scottish Government is committed to protecting places at university throughout this parliament, but given the significant investment announced in the budget for universities it may be time to look at whether we can go further and increase places.”

Tuition charges to a maximum of £3,000 a year were introduced in England in 2006, with universities allowed to increase the maximum to £9,000 next year.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We’ll continue to engage with the European Commission on our intention to introduce a management fee for EU students.

“All possible options are being examined within the boundaries of EU law and we expect to announce more on our plans early next year.”