Scotland’s £6,800 fees will close funding gap with UK

TUITION fees which will see some English students pay up to £36,000 for their degrees at Scottish universities have helped close the funding gap between institutions on opposite sides of the Border, it has been claimed.

The University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) yesterday became the last remaining Scottish university to outline its fees for 2012, with students from the England, Northern Ireland and Wales set to pay £7,500 a year.

It means the average fee across all of Scotland’s universities will be £6,841, although both Edinburgh and St Andrews – which currently account for more than 40 per cent of students from the rest of the UK – will charge the maximum of £9,000.

Education secretary Mike Russell said he believed universities had shown “restraint,” but opponents said restraint had been ignored.

Universities Scotland, which represents the country’s higher education sector, said the fees would help close the funding gap that currently exists with English institutions within the next three years.

The organisation said that fees for rest of UK (RUK) students, combined with Scottish finance secretary John Swinney’s announcement of an additional £135.5 million per year for university teaching and research in cash terms by 2014/15 meant Scottish institutions would be on a par with their English counterparts within three years.

According to figures provided by the Office for Fair Access, the average cost of a degree at an English university is estimated as £8,509, which reduces to £7,881 after packages of bursaries and fee waivers.

Mr Russell said: “I am pleased that the majority of our universities have shown restraint, and we estimate that the proposed average fee of £6,841 will be further decreased by packages of bursaries and fee waivers to around £6,375, one of the scenarios which the Joint Technical Working Group envisaged earlier this year.

“Of course, the Scottish Government has provided a generous settlement for our universities – which has been universally welcomed. I am confident that our universities are now on the best possible footing to continue to compete with the best in the world.”

Alastair Sim, director of Universities Scotland, said he was confident Scottish universities had not priced themselves out of the market for those coming from the rest of the UK.

He said: “In setting fees for students that live in the rest of the UK, Scotland’s universities have sought to offer a range of options including flexibility on year of entry which helps to reduce costs and ensures a degree in Scotland need be no more expensive than in England.

“Universities have also voluntarily put forward a raft of new and additional fee waivers, bursaries and scholarships to recognise talented students and support students from low-income households.

“Students from the rest of the UK are an important part of the diverse student population in Scotland’s universities, and principals very much want to see the cross-border flow of students continue.”

But critics said the average figure quoted by the Scottish Government failed to take into account that around 40 per cent of students from England, Northern Ireland and Wales study at just two institutions, Edinburgh and St Andrews.

Claire Baker, Labour’s spokeswoman for higher education, said: “Mike Russell claims that universities have shown restraint, but I would question the average fee he cites because it fails to take into account the fact that a large proportion of students from the rest of the UK currently study at Scottish universities that charge the maximum £9,000 per year for a degree.

“When the average is considered on these terms, it far exceeds the figure that Mike Russell suggested when he chose to open the floodgates and allow Scottish universities to charge the highest fees in the UK.

“Regardless of where people come from in the UK, universities in Scotland must not be allowed to become the preserve of the rich.”

The National Union of Students (NUS) said Scotland had become the most expensive place to study in the UK, saying the popularity of Edinburgh and St Andrews meant the average student from the rest of the UK would pay £30,628 for a degree.

President of NUS Scotland, Robin Parker, said: “Every university in Scotland has now set the price of its degree and the results are startling.

“The average degree, and I repeat average, will cost more than the very maximum allowed in England.

“It’s shameful that Scotland will be the most expensive place to study in the whole of the UK for students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

“This system is one that simply allows principals to cash in on students from the rest of UK, and that’s unjustifiable.”