Hundreds of Scottish students denied uni places thanks to SNP
HUNDREDS of Scots are being denied a university place because of the SNP’s cap on student numbers, figures suggest.
The cap is enforced because of the SNP’s flagship commitment to ‘free’ higher education, which is paid for partly by slashing bursaries for poorer students.
Critics say Scottish students are being discriminated against in favour of English and non-EU students, who pay to study here.
Students who narrowly missed out on required grades for university entrance are now trying to get onto a course through the ‘clearing’ process.
A Scottish Tory analysis yesterday revealed Scottish students have approximately half the opportunity to obtain places compared to English or non-EU students.
The analysis highlights that only 1,059 courses at Scottish universities are available to Scottish students, while their English counterparts can enrol on 2,101 courses at Scottish universities – and non-EU students can access 2,372.
Last night Scottish Tory education spokesman Liz Smith said: ‘Despite all their hard work, an increasing number of Scottish students lose out because of the discrimination which is inherent within the SNP’s higher education policy – and that includes the clearing process for which the in-built attraction for universities is those students who pay fees.
‘The university sector is facing very difficult financial circumstances thanks to SNP budget cuts, the net result of which is the growing pressures within institutions to take more students from fee-paying backgrounds.’
She added: ‘These most recent clearing statistics are further proof of the unfairness and the discrimination which affects Scots-domiciled students.’
Once the quota of Scottish students is reached, universities can keep recruiting undergraduates from non-EU countries who pay up to £30,000 a year, generating vital revenue.
During the clearing process for those who did not get the grades they had hoped for, Scots find themselves locked out from courses open to those from elsewhere in the world.
Figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency suggest an average of 49.9 per cent of entrants at Scotland’s five top universities were not from Scotland in 2016-17.
Meanwhile, as well as the cap on student numbers, there is a Government-led drive to widen the social mix on campuses north of the Border.
There are now pupils with as many as eight A passes in their Highers being refused places in favour of foreign students and applicants from England, who can pay fees of about £9,000 a year to study in Scotland.
Commenting on the Tory analysis of the clearing process, a spokesman for higher education umbrella body Universities Scotland said: ‘Scottish students have never needed to rely on it as much as students elsewhere in the UK because so many already apply with a set of Highers achieved in S5.’
‘Further proof of unfairness’