MSP’s praise for fees axe

Removing costs from further education opened the doors for people from every background to study, Renfrewshire MSP Derek Mackay has claimed.

The Nat says scrapping tuition fees has helped thousands from Renfrewshire realise their dreams.

He spoke out on the tenth anniversary of the decision to make courses free.

The Renfrewshire North and West MSP said: “The scrapping of Labour’s unfair graduate tax has been transformational for many people across Renfrewshire.

“It stands in stark contrast to the Tory approach in England and Labour approach in Wales, which forces people to pay thousands of pounds to get their degree.

“And just this week, we announced yet another significant investment in our universities and colleges, which will benefit from £1.8 billion in funding for the coming year.

“This is money which will help us achieve our aim of ensuring students from the 20 per cent of most deprived backgrounds represent 20 per cent of university entrants by 2020.

“With more students applying thanks to the SNP’s unwavering commitment to free tuition, it’s clear that more and more people will graduate from our worldleading universities in the years to come.”

The Finance Secretary insists those from less well-off families would not be able to afford tuition fees on the scale seen in England and Wales.

Institutions south of the border can charge up to £9,250-a-year to attend.

Since the fees were scrapped, 270,000 Scottish students have graduated free of charge.

But critics warn there are a limited number of places as the Scottish Government caps the number of funded places.