The last five to ten years have seen many big developments impacting Scotland’s tertiary education system. Some positive changes have included:
National initiatives around enterprise and skills.
Widening access and the learner journey.
New modes of delivery including graduate apprenticeships and online learning.
Greater cross-over between college and university pathways.
However, the tertiary sector also finds itself facing increasingly complex and unprecedented challenges ranging from:
- Increasing marketisation and competition between education providers.
- The changing demographic of the student body.
- Brexit and its impact on funding, free movement, and other factors.
- Internationalisation.
- Debates about the allocation of public funding to different areas of tertiary education, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
These factors have yet to prove positive or negative but they are undeniably occurring at a time of growing pressure on staff time and shrinking resources within institutions.
It is certain that tertiary education will continue to evolve and transform over the next few decades, with implications for learners, the economy and society alike.
Disruptions such as Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as more long-term trends like the ongoing digital revolution, mean this change will not always be steady nor predictable. Tertiary education will need to become resourceful and agile in the face of these forces, continuing to provide a key service while also contributing to the solutions that society needs to thrive.
This project, therefore, aims to:
Stimulate wide-reaching and informed debate about tertiary education futures by bringing in a wide range of views and perspectives.
Provide insights, advice and recommendations to inform policy and practice around the future shape, delivery and funding of tertiary education in Scotland.
ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSIONS
With a focus on facilitating dialogue and debate, the project is centred on a series of discussions with staff, students, employers and the wider public which look to capture their experiences, ideas and ambitions for the future of tertiary education in Scotland. These discussions will ground our findings in real-world evidence and invite new and important voices to the table who have traditionally been underrepresented in conversations about tertiary education.
ROUNDTABLE 1: CURRENT LEARNERS
To start, the project invited current learners from over 12 different universities and colleges from across Scotland to share their perspectives on tertiary education and what they would like to see from the sector.
Participants included representatives from:
- City of Glasgow College
- Dumfries and Galloway College
- Edinburgh College
- Edinburgh Napier University
- Glasgow Caledonian University
- New College Lanarkshire
- Queen Margaret University
- University of Edinburgh
- University of Glasgow
- University of St Andrews
- University of Stirling
- University of the West of Scotland
ROUNDTABLE 2: UNIVERSITY AND COLLEGE STAFF
Building on the approach to our first discussion, we asked a variety of university and college staff about their views on the purpose, role, and value of tertiary education and where they see things headed.
Participants included:
- Lecturers and teaching staff
- Student support staff
- Technical roles
- Management
ROUNDTABLE 3: NON-TRADITIONAL PROVIDERS
Recognising that tertiary education extends far beyond the umbrella of universities and colleges, this discussion sought to better understand the boundaries of tertiary education and how alternative providers cater to the diverse and varying educational needs of Scotland’s learners.
Participants included representatives from:
- Scottish Prison Service
- Military education
- Adult learning
- Skills agencies
- Industry apprenticeships and training
- Leisure learning
ROUNDTABLES 4 AND 5: COLLABORATION
Greater collaboration will be a crucial element in building the more flexible, learning-centred tertiary system that society needs. These roundtables explored collaboration across the tertiary education landscape and with industry, looking at how these relationships may change in the future.
Participants included representatives from:
- Universities
- Colleges
- Local authorities
- Widening access initiatives
- Integrated academic-industry partnerships
- Sectoral interest groups
- Funding agencies
- Multinational businesses
- Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)
- Innovation centres
ARTICLES, BLOGS, VIDEOS AND PODCASTS
We are publishing blogs, articles, videos and podcasts from a range of contributors offering their insights on the current tertiary landscape as well as its future direction of travel.
Maria Dornelas, Reader, School of Biology, University of St Andrews
Colin Graham, Senior Honorary Professorial Fellow, University of Edinburgh
Alice König, Senior Lecturer in Latin and Classical Studies, University of St Andrews
We would welcome your thoughts on the future of tertiary education in Scotland. Please use the comment boxes to join the conversation:
Our project has been informed by related pieces of work in the tertiary education space, including RSE and YAS’ own contributions to key inquiries such as:
- The Muscatelli and Cumberford-Little Reports
- House of Commons Scottish Affairs’ Committee’s inquiry into Universities and Scotland
- The Scottish Funding Council’s review of the coherence and sustainability of higher education and further education
Additionally, the Young Academy of Scotland has held several conversations about the future of higher education in Scotland and beyond.