Haughey welcomes new uni numbers

Rutherglen MSP Clare Haughey has welcomed news that a record number of people in Scotland went to UK universities this year.

Scotland also welcomed more students than ever onto its campuses at the start of the academic year.

UCAS, who operate the application process for UK universities, published figures that show over 36,500 Scottish domiciled applicants accepted a place for this academic year – an increase of 2.4 per cent on last year.

All other UK countries saw a decrease in the number of their residents accepted to university.

The first‘End of Cycle Report 2017’shows the number of all applicants accepted to Scottish higher education institutions in 2017 is up 1.7 per cent.

Ms Haughey said:“It is fantastic that Scotland’s education system has supported 36,500 people to secure a place at university this year .

“We are also bucking the trend with increasing numbers of Scots accepted to universities, while all other UK nations have experienced a decline in local applications to university.”

However, she raised concerns that Brexit could affect places of education.

She said:“It is concerning that the UK has become an increasingly less popular destination for EU students since the Brexit vote last year.

“This is bad news for our universities and for the wider Scottish economy, which is boosted by hundreds of millions of pounds generated by EU students each year.

Further and higher education minister Shirley-Anne Somerville, said:“It is great to see that Scotland is bucking the trend across the UK, with more of our prospective students securing a place at university. “This follows on from the record numbers last year. “It shows that our education system is supporting an increasing number of people to access higher education – giving them the skills they need to succeed.”