Millionaires starting out at Scottish universities

The University of St Andrews was ranked sixth behind London, Oxford, Cambridge, Leeds and Manchester for the proportion of graduates who went on to become millionaires.

The University of Edinburgh came ninth and Glasgow was 13th, based on a survey of more than 500 UK-based millionaires.

Investment specialist Skandia warned that the increase in university fees in England - and for English students coming to Scotland - combined with the level of misunderstanding about new loan structures, could mean fewer bright students going to university in the first place.

Graham Bentley, head of investment strategy at the firm, said: "Most of the universities attended by the millionaires we surveyed are part of the Russell Group, which highlights the value of getting a degree from a top rated university.

"What we find interesting though, is that the majority of millionaires, 72 per cent, were state-school educated, indicating that a privileged background was not a factor in them being able to have a university education."

Mr Bentley said the higher fees were putting young people off the idea of university, potentially having an impact on their ability to achieve strong financial security later in life.

Financial expert Martin Lewis, who is heading the independent taskforce on student finance information, said: "We shouldn't soft-soap it. The new fees are far bigger and you'll be repaying them for longer. Yet under the new system, people who don't benefit from their university education will pay less than they do now - as monthly repayments are lower and stop after 30 years."