St Andrews University boosts economy by more than £470m

Scotland’s oldest university contributes more than £473 million per year to the country’s economy.

St Andrews University also supports 6,990 jobs, according to a new economic impact report.

The report by Midlothian-based BIGGAR Economics found that the university has increased its economic impact by £50.3 million – up 12% – between 2014-15 and 2016-17.

That rise has also seen it supporting 430 additional jobs.

St Andrews, one of the country’s smallest universities, employed 2,690 staff in 2016-17 and had around 8,940 full-time students.

The report – Economic Impact of the University of St Andrews, 2016-17 – found that for every £1 of public money invested in the university through teaching and research grants, the establishment returns £11.80 to the Scottish economy.

For every £1 of income received from public funds through the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), the university was able to lever in almost £5 of additional income from other sources.

St Andrews is one of the Scottish universities that is least reliant on income from the SFC.

In 2016-17 St Andrews received £40.1m from the body in grants. This was equivalent to 17% of the university’s income in this year. To put this in context, the SFC accounted for approximately 32% of income for all Scottish universities in the same year.

Overall the university generated £268.6m for the town’s economy, supporting 4,260 jobs, and £298.3m throughout the Fife economy, supporting 4,830 jobs.

Picture: Kim Cessford. The university also supports almost 7,000 jobs, according to the report.