Tuition fees herald fall in number of Scottish students at university
The number of Scots enrolling at the country’s largest university has fallen alongside a 20 per cent rise in those coming from elsewhere in the UK.
Figures from Edinburgh University show there were 2,166 Scottish undergraduate entrants in 2016-17 compared to 2,191 in 2012-13, the year higher-rate tuition fees were introduced.
During the same period, the number of those coming from the rest of the UK (RUK) – who now pay £9,250 a year – rose 20 per cent from 1,482 to 1,771. The number of international students from countries outside of the EU increased 17 per cent to 1,041.
Scottish and EU students have their tuition paid for by the Scottish Government, which means their numbers are capped. But there is no limit on the number of RUK or international students universities can offer places to. Scottish Conservative shadow education secretary Liz Smith said: “The SNP’S blinkered insistence that there must be ‘free’ higher education at all costs continues to threaten the financial sustainability of the university sector and it is making it much harder for a growing number of well-qualified Scots domiciled students to access university.
“The resulting squeeze in funding is pressuring universities to take fee-paying students from the rest of the UK and abroad.”
The statistics from Edinburgh University show the number of Scottish students has fluctuated around the 2,000-mark since 2012-13.
Figures for St Andrews University show 555 Scots took up a place in 2016-17, up from 413 in 2012-13. The number of students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland rose from 445 to 604.
An Edinburgh University spokeswoman said: “Scottish and EU students at the University of Edinburgh are supported through a prescribed number of funded places provided by the Scottish Funding Council – which we cannot exceed – and tuition fees paid through the Student Awards Agency For Scotland.
“This both protects and caps the number of Scottish undergraduates who can be admitted each year.”
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “The number of Scots winning a place at university is at a record high. And, what’s more, the number from the poorest backgrounds is also at a record high.
The idea therefore that, at this time of record acceptances to university, free university education is anything other than a real benefit to students of all backgrounds, is incorrect.”
newsdeskts@scotsman.com