Tuition fees pledge made

Students from Scotland will not see tuition fees introduced for degree courses at Scottish universities in future, the education secretary has pledged.

Around 26,000 Scottish young people will start or return to university this week following announcements that students from other parts of the UK will face fees of £9,000-a-year in the future at universities including St Andrews and Edinburgh. Education secretary Michael Russell said: “There are not and will not be tuition fees for Scottish domiciled students.

“Clearly, in an ideal world we wouldn’t charge fees for students from the rest of the UK.

“However, we had to act as a result of the UK Government’s decision to charge fees of up to £9,000 a year in England – we are operating in a world where every pound counts and we must focus our budgets, which Westminster has reduced by £1.3 billion, on our priorities.”