Two more universities unveil plans to charge

TWO more Scottish universities have announced plans to charge students from England, Northern Ireland and Wales tuition fees of £6,750 a year.

Stirling University and Queen Margaret University became the latest institutions to outline what they would charge from the start of the next academic year.

Stirling said it would allow students with sufficient qualifications to go straight into second year and also outlined a new range of bursaries and scholarships for both Scottish and the rest of UK students.

Professor Gerry McCormac, the university’s principal and vice-chancellor, said: “The University of Stirling has always believed that access to higher education should be based on ability, not background or the ability to pay.”

QMU also said it was committed to shortening the “learner journey” by allowing students to go into second year.

Only the University of the Highlands and Islands is yet to declare its fees for next year, with St Andrews and Edinburgh set to charge the most for a degree at £36,000.

Scots and students from elsewhere in the EU are exempt from the fees, though the Scottish Government is considering the introduction of a “service charge” for European students.

Meanwhile, Aberdeen University and Robert Gordon University denied they had entered into merger talks after confirming plans to share courses between the two institutions.

The two universities have previously discussed sharing their estates and are now in talks about collaboration over courses.

A spokeswoman for RGU said the principals of both universities meet regularly to consider sharing services: “These meetings have not involved any discussions about mergers, nor are any such discussions envisaged.”

Neither the Scottish Government nor the Scottish Funding Council were involved in yesterday’s talks.