Big rise in English students coming to Scotland’s universities

SCOTLAND’S universities have seen a 26 per cent increase in the number of English and Welsh students accepting places following the introduction of new higher rate tuition fees.

The latest figures from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) are the first indication that some of Scotland’s universities are benefiting from the new system, which has led many of England’s leading institutions to charge students the maximum of £9,000 a year.

While students from the rest of the UK opting to study in Scotland will still have to pay fees, many universities north of the Border had hoped to attract increased numbers of “fee refugees” by undercutting English rivals.

While there are nearly 26,000 fewer English students taking up places at universities in their home country – a fall of 8 per cent on last year – there has been a 26.3 per cent jump from 3,197 to 4,039 in the number of those from south of the Border coming to Scotland.

The number of Welsh students rose by 26.7 per cent from 86 to 109.

The number of Scots accepting places in their home country fell by 0.2 per cent, but a fall in the number of applications overall means a greater proportion of those who wanted a place at university got one compared to a year ago.

While yesterday’s figures provide what universities called a “snapshot”, the full picture will not be known until the final statistics are released in December.

The majority of England’s leading universities have opted to charge students £9,000, while the average figure for Scotland is £6,841 a year.

But not all of Scotland’s universities have shown restraint on fees. Both Edinburgh and St Andrews, the two 
institutions which traditionally account for around 40 per cent of Scotland’s rest of UK (RUK) students, opted to charge £9,000 a year, making their four-year degrees the most expensive in the UK, as English courses last only three years.

It is understood Edinburgh University has seen a two per cent fall in the number of RUK students it accepts, meaning it is likely that it is those universities which have not traditionally 
attracted large numbers of English students which are responsible for much of this year’s rise.

Figures released last night by Glasgow University showed it had also seen a fall in students from the rest of the UK, from 672 to 513, while the number of EU students had gone up by 55 per cent.

There had been concerns that Scotland’s universities would fall behind those south of the Border following the introduction there of fees of up to £9,000.

University principals complained the system would lead to a funding gap between Scottish institutions and their wealthier English rivals.

However, late last year the Scottish Funding Council announced a better-than-expected funding package of £1.016 billion for teaching and research, which universities said had helped close the gap.

Education secretary Mike Russell said the figures showed the Scottish Government’s funding arrangements had been “fully vindicated”.

He said: “Higher results day saw record numbers of Scottish students accepted at that point to Scottish universities.

“More than two weeks later, the latest figures show that Scottish higher education has remained resilient in the face of significant drops in acceptances elsewhere in the UK following the Westminster government’s decision to charge £9,000 fees for all students.

“With many more students also expected to get processed through clearing in the coming days, our approach to guarantee a free education to all Scots who choose to study in this country has been fully vindicated.

“Scots represent 86 per cent of UK students and Scottish universities. We have moved to protect these places, so there is absolutely no question that a student from England or Wales could take the place of a Scottish student.”

Under the new funding arrangements, RUK students will pay fees to study in Scotland, while Scots and those from elsewhere in the EU will remain 
exempt.

However, this means the number of protected places for Scottish and EU students will be capped, while there will be no such restrictions on international students or those coming from the rest of the UK.

That had led to fears that Scots were missing out under the clearing system, which allocates last-minute places, after universities including Aberdeen and Stirling advertised hundreds of late vacancies for English, Northern Irish and Welsh students, but none for Scots.

But umbrella body Universities Scotland said yesterday there was no indication Scots were losing out, with an increase in the rate of those Scots students who had applied winning a place.

Alastair Sim, director of Universities Scotland, said: “There has been a lot of speculation about university places this year. These snapshot figures from UCAS provide some necessary perspective on the current situation.

“Places available to Scottish students at Scottish universities have held steady. The conversion rate this year of acceptances is actually up on last year by a modest 0.6 per cent meaning that a greater proportion of Scots who wanted a place at university have got one compared to last year.”

There had also been suggestions that students from Northern Ireland would claim Irish nationality to exploit a loophole which allows EU applicants to study for free in Scotland.

However, yesterday’s figures showed a surprising 19 per cent fall in acceptances for Northern Irish students and a 6 per cent fall for those from Ireland.

While there was a 2.5 per cent rise in EU students, the number of international students fell, breaking a long-running trend and suggesting that a tightening up on visa rules by the UK Border Agency may have had some impact.

Mary Senior, Scottish official for the University and College Union, said: “This was always a step into the unknown. We were surprised that more Scottish universities were not using this as an opportunity to 
undercut their English counterparts and attract bigger numbers. Right now the situation is very confusing and it’s going to take a few years for it to settle down.”

Robin Parker, president of the National Union of Students in Scotland, added: “It’s incredibly important that we keep an eye on where this new fee income from students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland is going. Universities should not put profit before academic concerns and most importantly, they must ensure that they have bursaries in place to protect the poorest students from the rest of the UK who come here to study.”