Colleges ‘can’t meet need for bursaries’

The National Union of Students (NUS) in Scotland requested information from 40 colleges on the allocation of their budgets for bursaries – discretionary funds used to help the poorest students finance their studies.

NUS Scotland said colleges had been forced to dip into their own funds to support students.

The analysis, conducted with Scotland’s Colleges, comes after the Scottish Government proposed a cut in the current £95.6 million budget to £84.2m from August. The budget for 2011-12 represents a £14m increase on the previous year’s funding, but NUS Scotland said ministers were reneging on a promise to protect the student support budget by reversing the rise.

NUS Scotland president Robin Parker said: “This analysis shows that even £95.6m was not enough to meet demand.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We said we would maintain college student support, and that is exactly what we will do.”