Charging English students is legal, says EU

THE Scottish Government’s decision to allow universities to charge English students up to £9,000 a year in fees while Scots study free of charge will not be challenged by the European Union, it has emerged.

Three English students are currently taking legal action against the Scottish Government amid claims that charges for university tuition fees breach their human rights.

The row has intensified after Edinburgh University said it would charge English, Welsh and Northern Irish students £36,000 for a four-year course, the most expensive degree in the UK.

Scots and other EU students, meanwhile, remain exempt from the fees, which were introduced after the UK government allowed English universities to charge more.

Dennis Abbott, spokesman for EU education commissioner Androulla Vassiliou, said: “There is no violation of EU law. The Scottish practice in relation to students from other parts of the UK is a matter of policy internal to the UK and outside the scope of EU law.”

Birmingham-based lawyer Phil Shiner has said he is intending to mount a court challenge on the grounds that the Scottish Government has contravened the European Convention on Human Rights.

The EU’s intervention came amid warnings that Scottish universities are under pressure to raise tuition fees to their highest level amid fears of being seen as lesser institutions. The University and College Union (UCU) said it feared all universities north of the Border would follow the lead set by Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt amid concerns that anything lower would send out the wrong message.

Edinburgh University is set to become the most expensive place to study for a degree in the United Kingdom after it said it would charge students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland £9,000 a year for a four-year course.

Both Aberdeen and Heriot-Watt are also set to charge £9,000 a year from 2012, but will offer the fourth year free of charge.

Dr Tony Axon, a spokesman for the UCU, said the decision by Edinburgh University and, in particular, Heriot-Watt to charge £9,000 a year put pressure on other institutions.

He said: “Heriot-Watt’s decision will really put pressure on other smaller universities. There’s a fear that people will think somewhere is a nothing university because they’re not charging the highest fees.

“Universities seem to looking at charging the same as those in England. That’s a mistake because it costs a lot more for English students to come here.

“They might have put good bursary systems in place, but all the universities in England are doing the same. This is going to put a real squeeze on people from middle income backgrounds.”

Education Secretary Michael Russell said: “We’ve always been clear that our proposals are lawful, as well as right for Scotland.”