Funding of tertiary education in Scotland report
Scotland’s future tertiary education system depends on informed, evidence-led decision. In 2025, the RSE convened a conference of leading experts to debate the challenges and opportunities facing the sector. This report captures those insights, providing a resource for policymakers as they navigate the choices that will shape the system’s long-term potential.
Download the funding of tertiary education in Scotland conference report (3MB, PDF)
Contents
1 Foreword Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli
2 Introduction Sir Andrew Cubie and Professor Alice Brown
3 The conference programme Links are provided to the Papers and Conference Slides
4 Q&A and panal summary Lauren Harrison
5 A view from colleges Audrey Cumberford and Paul Little
6 Afterword Baroness Alison Wolf
1. Foreword
Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli PRSE
Scotland needs a strong and sustainable tertiary education sector that meets the nation’s future needs, vision, and ambitions. Its existence is critical to Scotland’s growth, economic prosperity, societal wellbeing, and place in the world.
However, we know that our university and college sectors are at a crucial crossroads and facing unprecedented financial pressures.
The RSE’s conference on tertiary education funding was not only timely, but it was also essential. It was a platform to convene key experts and voices and stimulate robust discussions. Those who govern us will have the task of deciding on the sector’s future and they need to do so with the full knowledge of the challenges and possible solutions, to realise its full potential.
This final conference report forms an important part of that evidence base which can inform those future decisions.
In Scotland we have a tertiary education sector in which we can be immensely proud. Our universities are the envy of our international competitors, and our colleges are critical to skilling the nation with the workforce we need to secure future growth and economic prosperity, especially in new and emerging industries.
We are a world leader in research, innovation, nurturing the best talent, and international collaborations. Excellence is at the heart of the tertiary education sector’s mission, but that comes at a huge financial expense.
The Scottish Funding Council has presented us with a stark, but unsurprising picture of the future funding for our colleges and universities in their recent sustainability assessment for both further and higher education. This should be a concern to us all and galvanise us into action to make a change for the future of the tertiary sector. Some big and bold decisions need to be made to not only shore up the sector but to put it on a firm and sustainable footing.
We have also seen the publication of the UK Government’s new Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper in October, which highlights many of the same challenges and priorities explored at this conference including the urgent need for financial sustainability, system-wide coherence, and fair access across further and higher education. An interesting issue which emerges from the White Paper is that its recommendations on research and innovation, and on the issue of greater specialisation of individual universities, touch on devolved matters. UK Government may deploy policy levers through R&D spending and UKRI which will have implications for Scotland. In order to understand future policy choices we will as an RSE continue to provide expert input on the linkages between research and education.
While Scotland and England have taken different policy routes regarding the funding of post-16 education, the underlying pressures on funding, outcomes, and opportunity are shared across the UK. The connections in research, innovation, and the contribution of universities to the UK’s industrial strategy also require close policy co-ordination across the four UK nations.
The 2026 Scottish election presents the nation with an opportunity to address the fundamental challenges facing the sector. Having spent over 40 years in the sector (including 25 years in senior management) I do not underestimate the scale of the challenge. Ahead of this election, it is important that the issues facing Further and Higher Education in Scotland are discussed frankly and openly, for the benefit of both our politicians and the general public.
However, it is for those who will form the next Scottish Government to grasp the thistle and navigate us to a sustainable solution. For the sake of Scotland’s colleges and universities, the new government should waste no time in commissioning an independent review, with the starting point being what the shape and size of sector in Scotland should be. This review should also recognise the important UK-wide linkages, especially, but not exclusively, in research and innovation.
The RSE will continue to provide a trusted forum for evidence, dialogue, and collaboration on these Scotland and cross-border issues, helping to inform a resilient and inclusive tertiary education system for the future.
2. Introduction
Sir Andrew Cubie and Professor Alice Brown
Background
The funding of tertiary education in Scotland – its universities, colleges and provision by private providers – has become a key concern for the Scottish Government, other political parties and wider society, and of increasing interest to the media. It is not surprising that, in this context, Andrew was approached by different members of the media for his views on the current situation. They were well aware of his role as Convener of the Cubie Commission (The Independent Committee of Inquiry into Student Finance, Student Finance – Supporting a Fairer Future, 1999) which reported to the Labour/Liberal Democrat Scottish Executive in the early days of devolution.
At that time the Commission proposed a Scottish Graduate Endowment scheme that was adopted by the government and was later replaced in favour of the policy of ‘free tuition’ by the SNP when the party came into office in 2008. The media were, therefore, keen to hear Andrew’s views and his proposals for potential change.
Given the changes that have taken place since Andrew’s Commission reported, and the complexity of the issues involved, it was decided that a comprehensive review by the RSE would be the most effective way of giving the matter the detailed consideration it required. In taking this forward Andrew joined with Alice who, as a former chair of the Scottish Funding Council, has a keen interest in the topic. Together, and as Fellows of the RSE, they approached the Society with a proposal to address the funding issue, It was then decided to hold a two-day conference drawing on expertise in Scotland and beyond.
The conference, hosted by the RSE on the 28th and 29th May 2025, was conceived to stimulate a well-focussed, informed and evidence-based debate about the future of the funding of tertiary education in Scotland. The event, organised amidst growing concerns about the sustainability of current funding models, drew experts from Scotland, the rest of the UK and elsewhere representing academia, employer bodies, industry, student bodies and trade unions, each bringing their invaluable perspectives to the table.
It was not the intention to provide a definitive answer to the problem being addressed. Instead, a key objective was to offer evidence-based policy options for future funding models in Scotland which could be used and considered by policymakers, both institutionally and politically, in their further consideration of the issues involved.
The conference programme
Working with a Steering Group within the RSE, we brought together a comprehensive programme involving a range of speakers and moderators over the two days. Dame Frances Cairncross provided the opening Keynote Address followed by five main sessions:
- What Scotland requires from the future of its tertiary education sector: visions and other propositions
- What can we learn from international approaches to funding of tertiary education, and how they can inform options for Scotland?
- The current position of tertiary education funding in Scotland
- What can we learn from elsewhere in the UK?
- Provocations on the future funding of tertiary education in Scotland
In addition, there was an opportunity to hear a selection of Student Stories; a Lightening Session on the Ipsos UK report which summarised the research they conducted on behalf of the Carnegie Trust in which they assessed the public’s attitudes to higher education funding in Scotland; and an ‘In Conversation’ discussion between the Rt Hon Lord David Willetts and Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli, the RSE’s President.
The conference report
The report of the conference brings together the key presentations and slides provided by the speakers as well as a summary of the main points raised during the Question & Answer and Panel discussions that followed the presentation of papers.
Although we sought to ensure that funding of the range of post school learning opportunities was explored during the conference, the funding of universities received more focus than others. We are conscious that the position of colleges and the resurgence of apprenticeships did not receive as much scrutiny as we would have liked. With this in mind, we commissioned an additional paper from Audrey Cumberford, Principal of Edinburgh College and Paul Little, Principal of City of Glasgow College and this is included in our report.
In addition, we approach Baroness Alison Wolf, Professor of Public Sector Management at King’s College, London and cross-bench peer in the House of Lords, to provide an overview and assessment of the conference from her perspective as a leading expert and researcher in the field across the UK.
Post-conference developments
A key objective of the conference was to help stimulate further debate across the tertiary education sector by providing relevant data and well-informed analysis and options for consideration by stakeholders and policymakers. In planning the event, we liaised with all the political parties and others, including Colleges Scotland, Universities Scotland, and the Carnegie Trust who were most likely to carry forward the outcomes of the conference. It is encouraging that there have been important developments following the event held in May.
The Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland has commissioned further work from Ipsos UK, this time convening Citizens’ Panels to explore some of the issues and options around funding of universities. It is intended to begin the work in November 2025 and to hold eight sessions over the following eight weeks. This will be a significant development in testing public opinion and attitudes regarding higher education funding in Scotland and potential options for the future.
Another positive development is the talks we understand that have begun between Universities Scotland and the Scottish Government and other political parties. This cross-party initiative, in the form of a Review, is to be welcomed. This was one of the points and indeed recommendations that was raised by different speakers at the conference, namely the need for consensus building across political parties in assessing the current situation (the funding gap that exists in higher education funding and what Scotland needs from the higher education sector) and the potential options and solutions.
Campaigns for the Scottish Election to be held in May 2026 will obviously be a constraint on reaching any agreement in advance of the election. Nevertheless, it is extremely positive that work setting out the nature of the issues to be addressed can begin and that any incoming government will have the benefit of the outcome of the Review to assist their deliberations post-election. We trust that the papers and outcomes of the conference will be a valuable resource to such a Review.
We hope that a similar approach and Review will be taken with regard to colleges and in addressing the development and funding of the apprenticeship system.
We should also note that in September of this year, the Scottish Funding Council published two separate reports on the financial sustainability of funding in Scotland’s universities and colleges (Financial Sustainability of Universities in Scotland 2022-23 to 2026-27 and Financial Sustainability of Colleges in Scotland 2022-23 to 2027-28). These documents do not make easy reading and highlight most starkly the problems facing different institutions and the need for the funding of tertiary education to be addressed urgently.
The way forward – guiding principles
As the Co-Conveners of the conference, we have our own personal views on the potential policy options available to an incoming government. As indicated above, however, the intention of the event was not to provide an RSE ‘view’ on the matter, but rather to provide data, evidence and analysis and act as a catalyst for further debate.
Our own approach to the issues facing the tertiary education sector are based on our experience of conducting reviews into what are often highly sensitive and complex issues. For example, we worked together on the Consultative Steering Group which was a cross-party initiative involving others from civic society and our remit was to draw up processes and procedures for the Scottish Parliament in advance of the establishment of newly elected members taking their seats in the chamber. The approach taken was to identify Guiding Principles that would help engender a consensus between members of the group and a way of judging the specific proposals being put forward and considered.
This approach was also adopted by the Cubie Commission which drew up its Guiding Principles and which was successful in bringing together a wide range of different interests to agree a positive way forward and make policy recommendations.
It is our view that such an approach would be valuable in any consideration or review of the funding of tertiary education in Scotland. To this end, we offer the following draft Guiding Principles as ones that any future review or government may want to consider when addressing the future funding of tertiary education. We stress that this is our personal approach and our views and they should not be attributed to the RSE as a whole.
Draft guiding principles to underpin the design of the funding of tertiary education in Scotland
- FAIRNESS: The funding of tertiary education should be based on the principle of fairness to all recognising the benefits to students, the state, the taxpayer and employers.
- SUSTAINABILITY: Funding of tertiary education should be sustainable in order to provide and maintain a high quality system that meets the needs of students, society and the economy.
- ACCESS: Student recruitment and support should maximise opportunity for all to be able to access the highest quality of tertiary education, at the right time for the learner and at levels which recognise the needs and potential of the individual.
- PARITY OF ESTEEM: It is essential that there is parity of esteem in all tertiary learning, no matter which institution or organisation offers and delivers it.
- COHERENCE/COLLABORATION: There needs to be coherence between or amongst institutions or organisations delivering tertiary education and genuine collaboration amongst them where appropriate.
- CLARITY: Those pursuing tertiary education should be provided with clear information about the opportunities and educational pathways available to them as well as sources of financial and other support.
- FLEXIBILITY: Funding mechanisms need to be flexible for all ages and stages to address changing needs in society, but designed for the longer term aspirations of society and the economy.
- BALANCE: No single group of students, beyond the domestic cohort, should dominate the student population. In recruiting international students, particularly, care must be taken as to the sustainability of such markets.
Our thanks
We wish to express our sincere gratitude to all those who helped make the two-day conference such a success. Our thanks go to:
- our contributors – both speakers and moderators – for the excellent papers they provided and the debate they facilitated;
- those who attended the conference and participated effectively in the Q&A sessions;
- those who submitted additional papers for inclusion in this report;
- our Steering Group which guided us through the planning and delivery of the event;
- the RSE and its staff for the facilities and support they provided especially during the two days; and
- the organisations which offered in-kind support, namely Robert Gordon University (RGU), the University of Edinburgh (UoE) and Edinburgh College.
Last but not least, our thanks go to William Hardie who was seconded to us part-time from RGU and to Lauren Harrison from UoE who also supported the planning and delivery of the event. We are extremely grateful to all of them.
We trust that the efforts of all those involved will be of benefit to others and help meet our objectives of providing greater understanding and knowledge of Scotland’s tertiary education system and its funding and how it compares to other parts of the UK and internationally. In this way we hope that the knowledge will indeed be useful to those who have the task of taking the debate forward in their consideration of a fair, efficient and sustainable funding system for the future.
3. The conference programme
Day 1 – Wednesday 28 May
08:30 | Registration, refreshments, and networking.
09:15 | Welcome by Sir Andrew Cubie FRSE.
09:30 | Keynote address by Dame Frances Cairncross FRSE, Former Chair of Court, Heriot Watt University.
10:00 | What Scotland requires from the future of its tertiary education sector; visions and other propositions. This session will comprise a series of future-focused discussions with Q&A.
Moderated by Dr Sally Magnusson FRSE, journalist, broadcaster and author;
- Michelle Ferguson, Scotland Director, Confederation of British Industry;
- Roz Foyer, General Secretary, Scottish Trades Union Congress;
- Dr Graeme Jackson, Interim Director, Colleges Scotland;
Presentation (PDF, 733KB) Paper (PDF, 130KB)
- Stuart McKenna, Chief Executive, Scottish Training Federation;
- Claire McPherson, Director, Universities Scotland;
- Sai Shraddha S. Viswanathan, President, NUS Scotland.
Presentation (PDF, 2MB) Paper (PDF, 117KB)
11:30 | Comfort break with refreshments and networking.
11:45 | What can we learn from international approaches to funding of tertiary education, and how they can inform options for Scotland. This session brings together distinguished experts who will explore and compare innovative funding models from across the world. The session will be followed by a Q&A with the panel.
Moderated by Professor Colm Harmon, Vice Principal and Professor of Economics, University of Edinburgh;
- Dr Aedín Doris, Associate Professor and Head of Department, Department of Economics, Maynooth University;
Presentation (PDF, 205KB) Paper (PDF, 123KB)
- Professor Lily Kong, President and Lee Kong Chian Professor, Singapore Management University;
Presentation (PDF, 2MB) Paper (PDF, 154KB)
- Professor Sandra McNally, Director, Education and Skills Programme, Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics;
Presentation (PDF, 403KB) Paper (PDF, 113KB)
- Michael Wells, Partner and Education Practice Lead, MinterEllison Consulting.
13:15 | Lunch break.
14:15 | The current position of tertiary education funding in Scotland. This session will lay out the current funding landscape in Scotland, drawing on a wide variety of data, and examine the benefits and drawbacks.
- Professor David Bell FRSE, Professor of Economics, University of Stirling;
Presentation (PDF, 479KB) Paper (PDF, 3MB)
- Professor Cristina Iannelli, Professor of Education and Social Stratification, University of Edinburgh.
Presentation (PDF, 727KB) Paper (PDF, 730KB)
15:00 | What can we learn from elsewhere in the UK? A birds-eye view of tertiary education funding systems across the UK, recent and emerging developments, and how these compare to Scotland.
- Dr Gavan Conlon, Partner, London Economics;
Presentation (PDF, 1MB) Paper (PDF, 1MB)
- Kate Ogden, Senior Research Economist, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
Presentation (PDF, 224KB) Paper (PDF, 277KB)
15:30 | Q&A, encompassing the previous two sessions.
Moderated by Professor Graeme Roy FRSE, Assistant Vice Principal, University of Glasgow, and Chair of the Scottish Fiscal Commission.
16:30 | Networking reception.
Supporting information
- Educational Institute of Scotland
- Scottish Funding Council
- Keir Bloomer
- University and College Union
Day 2 – Thursday 29 May
09:00 | Registration, refreshments, and networking.
09:30 | Welcome by Professor Alice Brown FRSE.
09:45 | Student stories.
Hear from current students and alumni from across the tertiary education sector on their experiences with student funding options in Scotland.
The intention is to bring delegates’ minds back to the core of the sector; our students. Each will have around 5-10 minutes to tell their stories, share their experiences, and then participate in a facilitated discussion.
Moderated by Donald Turvill, Edinburgh Correspondent, The Herald.
10:30 | Lightning session on Public perceptions of higher education funding in Scotland report – Ipsos UK survey commissioned by the Carnegie Trust.
- Dr Emily Gray, Managing Director, Ipsos.
Presentation (PDF, 591KB) Paper (PDF, 128KB)
10:45 | Comfort break with refreshments and networking.
11:00 | Provocations on the future funding of tertiary education in Scotland.
The session to comprise articulation of provocations followed by panel discussion and Q&A.
Moderated by Dr Magnus Linklater FRSE, Columnist, The Times;
- Dr Lucy Hunter Blackburn, freelance researcher;
Presentation (PDF, 388KB) Paper (PDF, 228KB)
- Nick Hillman, Director, Higher Education Policy Institute;
- Professor Huw Morris, Professor of Tertiary Education, UCL;
Presentation (PDF, 202KB) Paper (PDF, 52KB)
- Alison Payne, Research Director, Enlighten;
- The Rt Hon Lord David Willetts, President, Resolution Foundation.
13:00 | Lunch break and poster session.
During this extended lunch break, delegates will have the opportunity to discuss projects related to funding in Scotland from a variety of organisations and individuals.
14:30 | In conversation with the Rt Hon Lord David Willetts and Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli PRSE.
- Moderated by Dr Magnus Linklater FRSE, Columnist, The Times.
15:30 | Reflections
Q&A with Sir Andrew Cubie FRSE and Professor Alice Brown FRSE, to reflect on conversations that have taken place over the course of the conference.
- Moderated by Dame Frances Cairncross FRSE, Former Chair of Court, Heriot Watt University.
16:30 | Concluding remarks by President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli PRSE.
4. Q&A and panel summary
Keynote address
Dame Frances Cairncross
Louise Richardson, former vice chancellor of St Andrew’s University and then of Oxford, and now president of the Carnegie Corporation in New York, has some words that should carry us all through the next two days. “Universities are critical to society,” she said earlier this month. “They’re the engines of the economy and important for so many people. They are also the engines of social mobility, but they are much more than that. They’re guardians of the culture and generators of new ideas. They’re absolutely essential to the success of society.”
These words could apply not just to universities, but to other forms of tertiary education. They matter in Scotland, because tertiary education, right across the board, is having a hard time. That is perhaps not entirely surprising, given the speed and the scale of the expansion that has taken place over my lifetime. But the consequences are likely to be difficult for many institutions to manage, and to require a mix of imagination, courage and – sometimes – brutality.
If I look first at universities – the area of tertiary education that I know best – what has happened in my lifetime is astonishing. The sheer number of universities, and the proportion of youngsters going to them, has risen in a way that few people would have expected before – or even after – the publication of the Robbins Report in the 1960s, with its recommendations on the need to expand higher education. When I went to Oxford University in 1962 – after doing my Highers at school in Glasgow – there were still only four universities in Scotland (though Heriot Watt, where I became chair of Court for five years, had already been in the further education business for 140 years). But the revolution was under way.
So today, not only does Scotland have 15 universities, some of them former polytechnic colleges. There is also the Conservatoire, the Rural College and the Glasgow School of Art – and, of course, the Open University. That is an impressively high ratio of universities to the local population. Across the border, England has – by some definitions – 106 universities. That is roughly seven times as many as in Scotland – but only seven times.
On both sides of the border, the ratio of university places to young people has soared. Scotland’s population has grown slowly, from five million in 1960 to five and a half million today. England’s population, by contrast, has grown dramatically. In the 1960s, it was a bit under 44 million: today, it is over 57 million. Greater London alone has almost 10 million people.
Now there are signs that the education boom is coming to an end. The latest numbers show that fewer than two-thirds of all students at Scottish universities live in Scotland. Just over a tenth come from other parts of the United Kingdom – and almost a third come from overseas – mainly from China, followed by India and Nigeria. Most go to the universities that Sassenachs would name first: Edinburgh, Glasgow and St Andrews. But the numbers of foreign students have recently begun to shrink, and the decline has particularly hurt taught postgraduate courses.
Of course, Donald Trump’s attack on the more prestigious American universities may drive a flow of candidates from the United States over the next few years, especially if Scottish universities work hard to sell themselves in that market. But we need to face the possibility that Scotland has too many universities – and indeed, perhaps the wrong forms of other sorts of post school education.
For universities are by no means the only form of tertiary education that has boomed over the past few decades. An even larger share of Scottish school leavers goes on to one of the country’s 24 colleges of further and higher education, which offer apprenticeships, practical courses and in some cases a bridge from school to university. They now take about a quarter of Scottish school leavers – and a third of school leavers in areas of multiple deprivation. Their courses are generally shorter than those of universities. I am glad to see that the Scottish government is looking for ways to raise the profile and the impact of these important institutions.
Not only do the F, H and E colleges draw their students almost entirely from their local population. They also teach many subjects and skills that lead directly to jobs. One of the most important of these in the years ahead will undoubtedly be social care. Already in Scotland, one in 13 jobs is in social care, and that will rise as the population ages. The Westminster government’s recent plan to abolish the care worker visa is going to create an immense problem – and an immense opportunity for these colleges. More than 58,000 foreign care workers came to Britain in 2023 under the visa route. With that route closed, social care will rely almost entirely on the colleges to fill the gap.
So the future for tertiary education looks different – and I hope even more important – compared with its role in the recent past. But looking at post school education in Scotland more broadly, there are three things that particularly worry me. They are gender balance, the birth rate and financial support. I am still wondering how much I should also worry about artificial intelligence.
Take gender balance first. Two or three generations ago, boys outnumbered girls at university. Today, that has been dramatically reversed. On both sides of the border, the proportion of young men applying for higher education is below that of young women, and the gap is widening alarmingly. This dramatic switch in gender balance has been taking place with surprisingly little public response.
The gap starts early, and is much greater in universities than it is in other areas of tertiary education. One of the few areas in which boys overtake girls is in joining apprenticeship schemes (they are also better at maths and more keen to study engineering). But otherwise the picture for boys is disturbing. Girls finish school with higher levels of attainment than boys, and a rising number of men of working age have low or no qualifications compared with women.
So in developing all areas of tertiary education in Scotland, there is a prize to be won: find ways to persuade more young men to pursue some form of post school education and to acquire marketable skills and qualifications. Producing more well-educated male engineers and mathematicians may be more important than coaxing boys to go into nursing or to study modern languages. And it may be easier to persuade boys to acquire practical skills than to write essays or to tackle abstract concepts.
One of the most pressing reasons to find ways to develop the skills of young men is that there will be fewer of them – and fewer young women too. For the best part of six decades, the birth rate in the United Kingdom has failed to reach replacement rate – an average of 2.1 babies per woman. Scotland’s birth rate has dropped spectacularly, even by the standards of the rest of the UK. In 2023, Scotland’s birth rate fell by 2% from its level the previous year, to its lowest level since records began in 1855.
Moreover, the annual number of deaths in Scotland now exceeds by a considerable margin the number of births. If it were not for the stabilising force of immigration, the birth rate would be lower still (most immigrants are relatively young) and the population of Scotland would have begun to decline.
The world of tertiary education needs to be aware of these trends – and to be especially aware of population trends in China, which has been such an important source of foreign students. A long period of one-child families has now resulted in a fall in China’s total population for three years in a row. India and Nigeria, the two other major sources of foreign students, both still have relatively high birth rates – but in India, the rate has slid to an average of two children per mother, and will go lower. And although President Trump’s bullying may bring to British universities a bonanza of American students, America – like roughly half the nations of the globe – now has a birth rate below replacement level.
The prize here for Scotland’s institutions of tertiary education is to widen their market, and to persuade older people that returning to education can be both fun and fascinating. A growing part of the population is wholly or largely retired – and once all those youthful septuagenarians have redesigned their garden, painted their house and gone on half a dozen expensive cruises, some of them could be lured back to take a further degree, or to learn new skills. The Open University has already pioneered this magnificently.
The opportunities are considerable. Last year, the Learning and Work Institute wrote a paper on adult learning that found that Scotland has the lowest level of adult participation in learning in the UK. Yet Scotland has a higher proportion of people aged 55 to 64 than the rest of the country. Perhaps our various institutions offering tertiary education should try a bit harder to tell them that learning can be both sociable and useful.
I have left the issue of financial support towards the end of my talk partly because I know it is the most painful and partly because I find it hard to see easy solutions. It is abundantly clear that the present solution is unsatisfactory. As some of you will know, Alex Salmond didn’t like the article I wrote in the Times just before I took over the Chair of Court at Heriot Watt University in 2015. In it, I argued the need for Scottish university students to pay fees on a deferred basis, along the lines in England.
Well, Mr Salmond is gone but I am still here, and I still think that Scottish students need to meet the cost of their education, on a deferred basis and once their earnings pass a reasonable level. I doubt that such a policy would cause any rocks to melt in the sun. It is, after all, a policy that has been tried and tested south of the border, and does not appear to have caused many youngsters to abandon the decision to pursue further education. I would like to believe that it made them think more carefully about the subjects they study, even if that results in a serious decline in the numbers studying mediaeval poetry or hospitality management.
I know that there are unfairnesses in such a plan: why should someone studying modern history, which involves little equipment and much solitary reading, pay as much as a student of engineering, medicine or computer sciences, all of which cost more to teach and seem to attract well paid jobs? But there are people who study modern history for their first degree (as I did) who end up earning as much over their lifetime as my brother who did engineering – but then worked all his life improving sanitation in the Third World.
One way to bring down the costs of higher education would be, of course, to persuade students to live at home while they study. Many of the students at further education colleges do just that. And in the United States, the only major country where there are universities that charge students more than England does, a high proportion of students live at home. Interestingly, in England, rising numbers of students are apparently choosing a university that will make it possible to live at home while they study. In Scotland, with its more scattered population, it may be less practical – but a substantial number of universities are located in the central belt.
Finally, we all need to think a bit about the implications of artificial intelligence. Will it dispense with many of the skills that are taught in some areas of tertiary education? Will it take over some of the teaching, or despatch some of the starter jobs that suit new graduates best? In the United States, the job market for new graduates has been deteriorating sharply in recent months. A recent article by Derek Thompson in the wonderful Atlantic magazine argues that this may be linked to the growing uses of AI. In some parts of the job market, including the legal profession and consultancy, AI may be perfect for doing the entry level jobs that once introduced new graduates to well paid careers. Both universities and colleges of further education will need to focus on teaching students how to use AI to the greatest effect, and how to do the tasks that AI cannot perform.
I hope I have not trodden on too many toes in the past 20 minutes. I am deeply flattered to be asked to open this important and interesting conference, and I look forward to being much better informed about your worries and your ideas by tomorrow night. There are few more important tasks than providing good education to the young, and all of you are in some way involved in that role. Thank you for what you do – and I hope you will be able to leave this gathering with new ideas and renewed optimism.
Summary report, including Q&A and panel sessions
Lauren Harrison
What Scotland requires from the future of its Tertiary Education sector; visions and other propositions
Moderated by: Sally Magnusson FRSE, Journalist, broadcaster, and author
- Sai Shraddha S. Viswanathan, President, NUS Scotland
- Stuart McKenna, Chief Executive, Scottish Training Federation
- Claire McPherson, Director, Universities Scotland
- Dr Graeme Jackson, Interim Chief Executive, Colleges Scotland
- Roz Foyer, General Secretary, STUC
- Michelle Ferguson, Scotland Director, CBI
Panel discussion
The NUS proposed taxing the wealthy more heavily, an approach also supported by the STUC which has developed a comprehensive taxation policy aimed at more equitable redistribution supporting public education.
There was a significant focus on the Apprenticeship Levy, with a surprising revelation that there is a multi-million-pound gap between the Apprenticeship Levy funds received by the Scottish Government and actual expenditure on apprenticeships in Scotland, suggesting considerable potential to redeploy these resources effectively.
It was highlighted that colleges are currently turning away people who wish to take up apprenticeships even in areas of skills shortages. In parallel, industry is having to recruit overseas workers in key areas due to lack of trained people in Scotland.
To the extent that a vision did emerge it was around a fairer, more responsive, sustainable sector that was responsive to economic and societal needs and was learner-centred and supported long-term.
The CBI and others called for greater collaboration between large employers, educational institutions, and government bodies to drive innovation and economic growth without necessarily increasing tax burdens. This collaborative approach could also involve leveraging existing structures like the Workforce North model for enhanced synergy.
The session illuminated critical issues within the Scottish tertiary education sector, particularly the financial hardships facing both institutions and students. Despite the clear challenges, the discussion on potential solutions revealed a lack of unison.
However, there was a general consensus for increased funding through improved tax measures and better allocation of existing resources like the Apprenticeship Levy.
Going forward, it is essential to consider more structured funding models that align educational outcomes with economic and societal needs. This approach could mitigate competition for limited resources and enable a truly transformative educational environment geared towards lifelong learning and responsive to demographic and industry shifts.
What can we learn from international approaches to funding of Tertiary Education, and how they can inform options for Scotland?
Moderated by: Professor Colm Harmon, Vice Principal and Professor of Economics, University of Edinburgh
- Dr. Aedín Doris, Associate Professor and Head of Department, Department of Economics, Maynooth University
- Professor Lily Kong, President and Lee Kong Chian Professor, Singapore Management University
- Professor Sandra McNally, Director of Education and Skills Programme, Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics
- Michael Wells, Partner and Education Practice Lead, MinterEllison Consulting
This session brought together distinguished experts who explored and compared innovative funding models from across the world. The session was followed by a Q&A with the panel.
It was designed to inform and stimulate thinking on the pros and cons of various international tertiary education funding models. The session was opened by the chair with an interesting observation that there appeared to be a degree of paralysis in policy making and development around tertiary education in many countries, with a lack of joined-up thinking.
Ireland
We heard first about the Irish system of funding Higher Education (HE), which had changed in the balance of private/public contributions on more than one occasion over the last three decades, during which time there had been significant growth in domestic student numbers. The current system relies on a student contribution (currently 2000 euro) and a block grant from the government.
Notable features of the system:
- the high participation rate (65 – 70% of school leavers progress to HE);
- 39% of entrants do not pay the student contribution;
- there is no cap on the number of students who can attend university.
Clear positive outcomes associated with the system included the high participation rate, significant attainment in widening access and maintenance of the graduate premium.
However, there were features of the system which indicated strain: high student staff ratios (well above the OECD average) and large class sizes, resulting in a negative impact on research. As the government block grant for each institution is largely determined by student enrolments, there is a real incentive for growth in student numbers.
The most recent review of future funding of higher education identified a funding gap of approximately 307 million euro per annum (EU commission report 2020, updated, 2022). Current government policy indicates that HE will continue to be funded in the co-contributor model – public funding, student contribution, with some increase in employer funding (through a National Training fund levy).
The additional core investment to bridge the gap is to be delivered by the Irish Government over an unspecified timeframe.
Singapore
Singapore has, what appears, a highly productive tertiary funding system which also relies on a shared contribution model. The importance of education to Singapore is reflected in government investment in education with policies in place to ensure a skills pipeline for national priorities.
Singapore Government spends less on tertiary education than many of its OECD peers, while performing well in university rankings and graduate employment. Government provides approx. 75% of total undergraduate funding while domestic students pay the balance – with loans, bursaries and scholarships available.
Looking to the future, Singapore has established a new statutory board with a mandate for upskilling and reskilling in light of the recognised need for individuals to retrain and develop throughout their working lives.
Australia
The country has a private/public system that accommodates almost anyone who wishes to enter HE. Domestic students (c. 67% student population) pay a subsidised rate (supported by a government loan scheme) while international students are charged the market rate for the degree programmes they study.
Private organisations educate about 10% of the student population. The funding challenges vary across the sector with large institutions operating at scale attracting many international students.
Smaller, often more regional universities, are not in a position to attract the large cohorts of international students that have cross subsidised the system. The system is under stress evidenced by high student staff ratios (22:1) and an increasing casualised workforce. While there has been an increase in the growth of research staff, there has been no increase in academic staff who teach and conduct research. Recent policy developments indicate a move towards a semi-controlled system.
Vocational Education and Training (VET)
VET makes a significant contribution to innovation and growth. In Germany and Switzerland the value and benefits of VET are well recognised and having skills acquired through VET, individuals can progress to university degree programmes as appropriate.
In the UK, there is an argument that advanced vocational education could be considered ‘the missing middle’. However, this is now in decline due to several reasons, including poor incentives, more generous loans for degree programmes and no funding if the level was lower than that already studied.
Panel discussion
There was general consensus that Scotland should have a system of tertiary education that would ensure universal and equitable access and high participation, and that funding this would need a public and private partnership approach.
If income contingent loans to support no upfront fees were part of the model, it was stressed that the repayments system must be progressive. It was indicated that embracing a private student contribution as part of the funding model had no impact on widening access.
The importance of student maintenance loans or grants were highlighted as crucial in supporting high daily living costs for students at both college and university. It was also made clear that government reviews and related reports can lead to complex reports with many recommendations, which take time to implement and are often not progressed in full.
The session ended with a focus on the demographic challenges facing many countries, including Scotland. It was stressed that this will put intense pressure on many of the current funding models as the number of young people coming into tertiary education declines.
Looking forward, there are other funding models around the world that could be tailored to support a sustainable funding system in Scotland to align future skills demands to economic, cultural and social need.
A double panel, moderated by Professor Graeme Roy FRSE, Assistant Vice Principal, University of Glasgow and Chair of the Scottish Fiscal Commission.
The current position of Tertiary Education funding in Scotland
- Professor David Bell FRSE, Professor of Economics, University of Stirling
- Professor Cristina Iannelli, Professor of Education and Social Stratification, University of Edinburgh
What can we learn from elsewhere in the UK?
- Dr Gavan Conlon, Partner, London Economics
- Kate Ogden, Senior Research Economist, Institute for Fiscal Studies
Panel discussion and Q&A
The session laid out some of the financial pressures impacting the Scottish Government within the context of tertiary education funding.
Inadequacies in block grant adjustments in relation to new Scottish benefits such as the Adult Disability Payment and the Scottish Child Payment have resulted in the government reallocating funds from other budgets.,
Furthermore, it was acknowledged that continuing pressures on public funds due to stagnant economic growth, and increased expenditures on government obligations, present an increasing challenge to prioritise higher education funding.
It was argued it would be politically difficult to increase public funding for higher education without impacting other areas.
This prompted a debate on alternative funding streams for universities, such as business making a contribution, perhaps through a graduate levy tied to company profits. However, concern was raised that this may lead to businesses having some influence over university governance.
The drawbacks of similar proposals in England were highlighted, with warnings this could potentially distort labour markets. The broader point was made that university funding could be more closely linked to specific industry sectors, provided there was clear mutual benefit visible to the employers.
The dire financial pressures facing further education colleges in Scotland was highlighted by figures showing the sector receives 24% lower funding compared to England.
It was warned that maintaining the status quo would lead to institutional closures.
The discussion also touched upon the necessary condition of the funding system to be fit for the future. Despite this, the argument was made that incremental improvements based on existing structures should be pursued, rather than wholesale reform.
Audience feedback sparked a debate about the need for participation targets as a precursor to establishing funding allocations. However, concerns were raised about whether there actually exists a reservoir of disadvantaged students prepared for and capable of higher education. There was some consensus that more comprehensive data sources are needed to establish whether we need such targets.
The perception of efficiency in Scottish universities was raised, particularly around the debate on whether lower funding levels in Scotland and Northern Ireland suggested higher operational efficiency or if it indicated underfunding.
In concluding, it was emphasised that further work is needed to fully understand the scale of financial challenges, and potential reforms, to create a tertiary education system that aligns with Scotland’s educational and economic goals.
Student stories
Current students and alumni from across the tertiary education sector spoke about their experiences with student funding options in Scotland, bringing delegates’ minds back to the core of the sector; our students.
Mature student perspective
Self-funding is a major challenge for many, having to balance full-time work with their studies.
It was pointed out that there is a lack of clear information and support available for transitioning from access programme to degree courses, emphasising the psychological and financial toll it can take. The broader issue of insufficient guidance and support for mature students in navigating the complexities of educational funding was also highlighted
Apprenticeships and work-based learning A good example of this working well in practice is in the hospitality sector. The hands-on learning approach is in stark contrast with traditional academic settings, which students often find less engaging
The challenges related to funding apprenticeships are more acute for older or returning learners, who often fall outside standard funding criteria. This highlighted the vital need for flexible funding structures that accommodate diverse learner profiles and support lifelong learning and professional development.
Challenges in college education
There is a misalignment between student funding policies and the actual demographics of college students, with many having to juggle financial pressures, such as transport and living costs, with their studies. It was argued there is a pressing need for policy adjustments to reflect the financial realities of today’s student population, particularly given differences in age and increasing numbers of people reskilling through college courses.
Panel discussion
The discussion reiterated the importance of including student voices in policy-making processes to ensure that educational funding mechanisms address the actual needs of students.
Speakers highlighted the complexity of current funding systems and their failure in meeting the diverse needs of students
The panellists discussed the need for support systems that extend beyond merely providing access to education. Support mechanisms need to address the varied challenges of different student groups, including mature students and those transitioning from work or other circumstances back into education. Discussions highlighted a significant gap in the dissemination of crucial information about funding and support. Improving communication and providing clear, accessible information can empower students to make informed decisions regarding their education pathways.
Suggestions for policy improvement included reassessing the definitions of what a ‘typical’ student is, and isn’t, ensuring equitable access to funding, and integrating personal finance education into curricula.
The incorporation of direct student experiences and needs into policy-making processes stands out as a crucial approach to fostering equitable and effective educational environments. The discussions underscored the commitment to continuous dialogue and adaptation in educational policy, in order to better serve the evolving student demographics and their respective challenges.
Provocations on the Future Funding of Tertiary Education in Scotland
Moderated by: Magnus Linklater FRSE, Columnist, The Times
- Nick Hillman, Director, HEPI
- Dr Lucy Hunter Blackburn, Freelance Researcher
- Alison Payne, Research Director, Enlighten
- Professor Huw Morris, Professor of Tertiary Education, UCL
- The Rt Hon Lord David Willetts, President, Resolution Foundation
Panel discussion and Q&A
During the panel discussion our experts delved into multifaceted issues of funding, policy, and the need for significant reforms given demographic and economic pressures.
Referring to Scottish demographic trends, concerns were raised about potential increases in student migration to other parts of the UK unless financial reforms are undertaken. It was noted that discussing the financial expenditures involved could potentially shift public opinion and policy focus.
It was noted that political consensus was needed for meaningful change to be implemented in the sector. An example raised was the potential for institutional mergers and risks to fee structures in England due to political decisions.
A solution put forward was a statutory process for fee indexation to avoid unnecessary upheaval and ensure stability, noting that the recent increase did not provoke an adverse reaction.
The point was reiterated that there must be more focus on the college sector, highlighting the vital role they play in equipping the country with the skills needed to grow the economy.
Better recognition and funding are also needed to avoid the sector being seen as an expendable political target when budget cuts are being considered.
Turning to alternative funding mechanisms, the idea of an employer levy was raised. by the audience. The point was made that such a funding model was more suitable for apprenticeship programmes rather than degree-level qualifications.
In conversation with The Rt Hon Lord David Willetts and Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli PRSE, moderated by Magnus Linklater FRSE
The context of the conversation was to broaden out the discussion from that earlier in the conference.
How should we involve the general public in the wider conversation about universities? They are sceptical of the value that universities bring.
The current debate is heavily overshadowed by the political controversy associated with funding.
Furthermore, the benefits of a university education have not been adequately communicated in stark contrast to the public perception of providing more funding for early years.
We can start with talking about the fact tertiary education is needed by the country, and to make sure everyone understands how it’s structured and its different sectors. It was pointed out that the public needs to be aware that universities are not just teaching factories but undertake research that leads to innovation and new technology that benefits the country.
Another example cited was that universities enable the hiring of better qualified people in the public sector; the ability to make sure that policy is driven by data; and they contribute to ensuring that we have a much more enlightened society.
How do we demonstrate that practically, and explain it to the general public?
Universities are part of the current culture of the nation. We need to go beyond the senior phase and address how we stop losing children at age 11. There are programmes between Edinburgh and Glasgow that are aimed at raising the aspirations of 8 to 16-year-olds across the board which will impact their interest in going to university.
Scottish Government is often critical of universities calling them elitist does this have an impact on the perception of universities in the public?
Debates continue around widening access but on the whole, the progress has been seen as positive. However, achieving the next 2 to 3% improvement is going to be very difficult.
It has been said that good careers advice and the funding available to students as they go through universities is an essential component of making sure that we can continue to widen access. Do you agree with this?
Some young people know what they want to do at the age of 18 and there are vocational courses in universities as well as in colleges that allow them to pursue their chosen direction. Scotland is seen as much more proactive in this context given the four-year degree and allowing for more opportunity to transfer during the course of a university degree.
England is going down a different route by encouraging students in school to go into engineering and science as young as 14 years so they can study the right subjects at A level. However, there are questions about how relevant and necessary this practice is.
It was noted that the majority of women interested in science go into medical degrees, while engineering is still very much dominated by men. In broader terms, concern was raised that men are now in a minority in the student population.
There is a significant lack of data across the sector, particularly longitudinal data, and it would be especially useful to have the ability to track individual learner progress.
We all believe in the importance of universities to the public and national economies in regard to the role of research, but how do we convey this to the general public?
A significant feature of the UK system is that there is far more research undertaken in universities than other research labs or businesses, unlike countries like Germany. As a result, the majority of research is undertaken in universities, although there is a focus on rewarding research heavily focused on citations.
Consideration is also needed about the funding model for research where often academics bid for and win underfunded research proposals, and the differential costs have to be covered. Quite often this means that other income into the university, such as from international students, not only cross subsidises teaching but also gaps in research funding
Does the pressure of US universities offer an opportunity?
The current position in the US may offer an opportunity to attract young talent from the US but is likely to be limited. It was noted that the traditional ‘baronial problem’ in foreign universities persists, where the seniority and the status of academics still dominates in the UK, this is not the case and this could be very attractive to young talent coming from other countries.
How ambitious should we be in making changes? Something needs to be done but there is definitely a challenge with regard to political short termism?
Fees need to rise with inflation for a number of reasons. There are pressures on low-income students for instance, who are working long hours to survive. This has a significant impact on their academic success and we do need to look at maintenance loans.
It’s also important in the area of research. University management need to look more closely and be more involved to make sure that they manage the number of underfunded research grants that are accepted by their staff because this can no longer be cross subsidised by foreign students.
HE is in peril and we need to better explain why strong HE and Further Education (FE) sectors are integral to the Scottish economy. We need to look at the needs of Scotland at a more strategic level and we must involve independent experts to bring in fresh and innovative solutions. It is too important to do nothing as the sectors will fall over, leading to implications for the economy and the health system.
We need to question whether there is a place-based role for universities in Scotland. Civic engagement is extremely important, and we need local understanding of the value that we’re bringing.
What are the key issues that you’ll take away?
The level of maintenance loans that have been taken out in Scotland have shown that the fear of loans is not as high as suggested.
Analysis of the number control system in Scotland has revealed the losers appear to be the middle class who are no longer able to get places in Scottish universities. The resultant loss of these people to England, potentially not returning, is something that might have a long-term impact on the economy.
Insights about the loan system, and also what is left unused in different financial pots, is an issue that urgently needs to be addressed.
International viewpoints highlighted that there is a real opportunity to learn from the conditions in other areas but we absolutely need political leadership to grasp the opportunity for reform.
Reflections
Q&A with Sir Andrew Cubie FRSE and Professor Alice Brown FRSE, to reflect on conversations that have taken place over the course of the conference, moderated by Dame Frances Cairncross FRSE.
A reminder that the key aims and objectives in organising the conference were to begin a well-informed, evidence-based discussion and debate grounded on contributions from a range of speakers with a view to helping inform and identify potential policy options for policymakers in Scotland to consider. The intention also was to encourage ongoing debates amongst bodies and organisations represented at the event.
Key issues raised over the two days, included:
- The consensus that funding has reduced significantly over the years for apprenticeships, colleges and universities
- As a result, the current situation is unsustainable and needs to be addressed.
- Problems associated with reliance on international student recruitment
- Cross-subsidy between teaching and research
- The significant difference in funding between sectors and the state’s contribution
- The need for more focus on the problems experienced by the college sector.
It was agreed that there was a need to build on the success of the conference using the data and evidence that was made available. A specific case was made for an independent Review or Commission – cross-party and cross-sector – that would take the issues forward and develop proposals for change.
As one participant succinctly summed it up, this is an opportunity to “design the future together” but that it needs leadership, courage and bravery.
In drawing the session to a close, the Co-Conveners stressed the need to continue the debate and avoid the issue of funding becoming a political football.
As David Bell FRSE, Emeritus Professor of Economics, University of Stirling, put it: “Tertiary education institutions are key to the development of Scotland’s human and social capital and therefore to its future prosperity and well-being”.
5. A view from colleges
From crisis to opportunity: A policy agenda for funding Scotland’s colleges
Audrey Cumberford and Paul Little
(Note: This draft integrates latest evidence from Audit Scotland (2025), the Scottish Funding Council report on Financial Sustainability of Colleges in Scotland 2022-23 to 2027-28, and national commentary including The Scotsman article “Why we must act now”).
Introduction
Colleges have existed and have been cherished by Scottish society for at least two centuries. Many of our Scottish Universities have evolved from their antecedent roots as colleges and technical schools. Many of the current Further Education Colleges in Scotland have their origins in the 19th century with the landmark Education (Scotland) Act 1872 allowing school boards to establish evening schools for students over 13 years old in basic academic subjects, such as craft, technical skills, domestic science, and agriculture. The College sector flourished in the 20th Century, offering working class advancement through industrial training, aligned with economic needs. Specialist technical institutions were created in engineering, construction, commerce, nautical, and teaching.
Nowadays across Scotland, colleges are equipping school leavers from every background and every ability with the education and skills they need to achieve their ambitions and maximise their potential. They also provide a vital adaptive layer for agilely upskilling and reskilling employees already in employment. Before the Banking Crisis in 2009-10 and the political pivot to Develop the Young Workforce (DYW), colleges were still the bedrock of ‘night school’ – adult learning. Collectively, their output right across every corner of Scotland enabled our country to thrive and to remain resilient against the quickening headwinds of change.
Attending college is a positive choice for students to receive excellent tertiary level learning, teaching, and assessment. Prior to the political choice of governments in Scotland and the UK to promote universities as the principal powerhouses of social mobility, colleges were the prevailing destination for students with aspirations and potential but limited social capital.
Previously, Diplomas, Apprenticeships and craft qualifications were greatly valued because they delivered skills that lasted a lifetime and provided livelihoods for local communities. Colleges are also large employers within their locales and are considered great places to work in, enabling routes from industry to teaching and continuous professional development and even promotion.
Every college in Scotland continues to nurture close links to industry and their local communities, with 24 colleges across 13 regions. Colleges are inclusive, offering opportunities to everyone, building community wealth through further education and/or higher education and skills-based training with a hugely diverse course offering. Nearly a third of college students come from Scotland’s lowest socio-economic backgrounds, with a supported population of care-experienced students. Fifteen per cent of students have a recorded disability, and three quarters of those students are studying mainstream programmes.
Advancing social inclusion, lifting individuals and families out of poverty, and mitigating growing levels of wealth are a vital part of the impact colleges make.
The Scottish Government is rightly proud of its world-class higher education offering, and approximately a quarter of all this world-class higher education in Scotland is actually delivered by colleges in colleges.
Key facts about the college sector in Scotland
There are 24 colleges in 13 regions across Scotland, delivering around 63 million hours of learning to 218,145 learners every year. 19 in every 20 students who complete their studies go on to a job, training, or continue in education as positive destinations.
Colleges are significant employers within their respective regions, employing over 13,000 staff.
Colleges deliver around 20% of all higher education in Scotland and the sector enables over 8,790 students to progress into university each year. According to the Scottish Funding Council, over 40% of SIMD students studying at a Scottish University, studied at a college first.
Colleges are the biggest delivery agent of Modern Apprenticeships, supporting 14,420 apprentices.
Colleges are fantastic launchpads, working closely with schools to provide opportunities for senior phase pupils and offering vocational pathways into careers – 26% of school leavers go into further education from school (36% from the most deprived areas).
Colleges work in partnership with businesses to re-skill and up-skill the workforce – over 94,000 enrolments are linked to industry. Care has the highest number of enrolments linked to industry.
Colleges also attract some 5,000 international enrolments annually.
As civic anchors, colleges support their regional communities by providing access to facilities such as on-campus sports facilities, beauty services, and training restaurants. They also support individuals locally – 23% of students have a recorded disability and 9% of students are from minority ethnic groups.
No shared narrative across government of the positive benefit of colleges
Much of the dominant narrative about post-compulsory school education within the media, officialdom, and Scottish political discourse is generally dominated by the status ascribed to universities, undergraduate degrees, and tuition fees. This over celebration of a key part of tertiary learning overshadows the pivotal contribution to the Scottish economy and the wider Scottish society made by colleges.
Moreover, in the absence of a managed systems approach to post-school learning, parliamentary debate, governmental priorities and, indeed, as the RSE conference again demonstrated, the default narrative almost exclusively returns to the plight of universities with only token and perfunctory references to colleges. The inference taken is that college students matter less than university students.
More perniciously, however, this prevailing narrative favouring universities entrenches a hierarchy of tertiary funding and the continuance of a bifurcation between Further Education (colleges) and Higher Education (universities). Since colleges are ultimately seen as a lesser political priority, they receive lower levels of funding than both universities and schools.
The Cumberford-Little report 2020 highlighted this anomaly and recommended a shared narrative across Government and the wider tertiary sector.
https://view.pagetiger.com/inlhij/1/PDF.pdf
Inertia and loss of autonomy
Such is the extent of the inertia within governmental policy makers and the current funding approach, that any necessary evolution of the SFC’s funding formulae is annually trumped by the inexplicable need to maintain the status-quo and thus historic patterns of funding. The current college funding system also lacks any meaningful strategic transitional or transformational funding to effect structural change beyond that copper-fastened to support the bureaucracy of the galaxy of tertiary support organisations.
Furthermore, since the reclassification of colleges in Scotland to meet The Office of National Statistics requirements a decade ago, colleges can no longer borrow nor hold an end-of-year surplus, unlike their Welsh peers who can still do both and who have not been reclassified by the Welsh Government. English and Northern Irish colleges also benefit from having greater flexibility around borrowing and building reserves than their Scottish counterparts.
Scottish colleges have therefore lost considerable autonomy and with that the ability to remain institutionally resilient in the face of a VUCA operating environment (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity); subsequently, they have lost the capacity to invest in their capital estate and in their IT systems. Whilst only two colleges since reclassification were directly supported to develop new campuses, most Scottish college estates are deteriorating and in urgent need of repair and replacement.
Inadequate core funding
Core college funding from the Scottish Government throughout this decade – administered through the Scottish Funding Council – has consistently failed to keep pace with inflationary increases. Meanwhile, increases to the quantum of the overall college funding envelope were primarily additional allocations to fund the outcomes of National Bargaining negotiations rather than to enhance the student experience.
Colleges contend that in general they deliver a highly efficient curriculum, even subsidising the senior phase of school education. They remain perplexed why tuition fees (especially those within their HE curriculum) are less than corresponding university tuition fees and have been frozen by the Scottish Government for some 15 years.
We conclude that it’s not that their plight is not being heard, it is simply not resulting in sustainable levels of funding coming from the Scottish Government and SFC.
The cumulative effect of this inertia and indifference towards Scotland’s college sector has directly led to an acute financial crisis. The Audit Scotland report ‘Scotland’s Colleges 2025’ highlighted this figure is closer to a 20% real-terms reduction by 2025/26, also highlighting associated acute liquidity risks and an estate investment backlog nearing £1bn.
The future of Scottish colleges is now at a tipping point
Repeated flat-cash settlements over this past decade have considerably weakened and held back the development of colleges. They have survived, just, from one year to the next, as the proverbial structural change can is kicked ever further down the road to someone else’s watch.
Sector projections over the next three years paint an even bleaker picture with most colleges forecasting to be in deficit, with a growing number facing acute liquidity challenges meaning that they will run out of cash to pay in-year staff wages. The SFC report on the sustainability of colleges states that further substantial adjusted operating deficits are forecast over the next three years with twenty-two colleges (92%) forecasting adjusted operating deficits in 2025-26. Successive Audit Scotland annual reports continue to flag the systemic year-on-year financial deterioration of the sector.
These financial pressures are increasingly impacting negatively on the number of people now able to access opportunities in colleges. More than ever before, we hear that college students are being turned away through the lack of funded places across FE and HE, and also across full-time and part-time courses. According to the SFC, part-time further education students saw the largest year-on-year decrease (11.9 per cent in 2023/24) following three years of increases.
https://audit.scot/uploads/2025-10/briefing_251002_scotlands_colleges_2025.pdf
Anchor institutions
Colleges play such a significant role as anchor institutions within regional economies and city and rural communities. They provide lifeline opportunities for a diverse Scottish population, and they are at the forefront of enabling access for school leavers, New Scots, older learners, those from the most deprived areas, those overcoming disability challenges, from marginalised and ethnic backgrounds, and from fragile and care-experienced backgrounds.
Such is the student-centred and nurturing learning environment of colleges, staffed by a highly motivated workforce, that they are ideally suited to these types of learners. They play an unsung but essential role in lifting thousands of families out of poverty each year.
The Scottish Government accepted a recommendation made by the Commission on Widening Access that by 2030, students from the 20 per cent most deprived backgrounds (SIMD20) should represent 20 per cent of entrants to higher education. The Widening Access Commission also highlighted that it was the college sector that was doing much of the ‘heavy lifting’ of widening access to higher education. Students progressing from the college sector to full-time first-degree programmes in universities represented a third of this target in 2022/23. However, this is the lowest contribution since 2015/16, likely caused by reductions in the number of people accessing college places and better funded school leavers from SIMD20 enrolling directly into university.
The SFC’s College Staffing Data 2023-24 report stated that 10,112 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff were employed at colleges in 2023–24 (including unincorporated colleges). This is a decrease of 845 (7.7 per cent) from the previous year.
The impact of sustained reductions in real-term funding of colleges is compounded by inequity across the school and post-school system in terms of public investment per learner for the equivalent level of study: school learner £9k, university learner £7.5k and college learner £5.5k.
Colleges serve as critical institutions for social mobility, skills development, and economic inclusion, particularly for vulnerable and disadvantaged groups. Yet current policy and funding frameworks – rooted in outdated structures and formulae – fail to meet the demands of a modern, integrated tertiary education system. Colleges are key to supporting the upskilling and reskilling of people currently in work. The World Economic Forum estimates that 60% of the current workforce will need to reskill by 2030.
This paper outlines urgent and strategic interventions to restore long-term funding sustainability, further align funding with national priorities, and reframe colleges not as secondary to universities but as pivotal institutions at the heart of a unified tertiary system. We cannot afford to allow colleges to wither when the future of Scotland’s workforce depends on them.
https://dera.ioe.ac.uk/id/eprint/33941/
The funding crisis: A reality check
The Scottish college sector has experienced a prolonged period of intensely damaging underinvestment, manifest in:
- 20% real-terms reduction in funding over the past decade by 2025/26.
- 40% less investment per student in colleges compared to the rest of the UK (London Economics data).
- Inequity across the Scottish education continuum in terms of publicly funded investment per learner for the equivalent level of study.
- 10% drop-in activity (credits) and over 12% drop in student numbers in 2023/24.
- Declining trends in staffing levels, student numbers, and student support, particularly for those from low-income backgrounds.
- Liquidity stress: sector cash reserves projected to turn negative by 2026 without intervention.
- The SFC Resource Development Expenditure Limit (RDEL) and Capital Developmental Expenditure Limit (CDEL) funding model is no longer fit for purpose. This sub-optimal allocation model reinforces scarcity, caps opportunity and, overall, favours universities and academic education over vocational education.
Colleges: The missing middle in Scotland’s tertiary landscape
Scotland’s public policy narrative has for nearly two decades fixated on free tuition fees and universities, whilst consistently being indifferent to the vital economic, lifetime learning and personalised learning role of colleges. This ‘missing middle’ of Scottish education should now be filled by our college network, which has the reach and the capacity (though that capacity is now very much at risk in some locations due to systematic disinvestment) to work with a broad range of stakeholders including schools, universities, employers, and local government.
The reality is that Scotland’s colleges offer specialist professional, technical, and technological education combined uniquely with front-skilling, upskilling, reskilling and lifetime-skilling. They are the anchors of skills-led regional economies and deliver significant levels of higher education provision at greater value for money than universities.
Yet colleges now face a conundrum – survive by delivering less high-cost STEM delivery such as engineering, digital, manufacturing and net-zero skills to fewer students or make difficult decisions to remain viable and avoid financial clawback from the SFC for not achieving activity/credit targets; a perverse dilemma now being played out in each of the college regions.
Reimagining the Scottish tertiary system
- Implement a One Tertiary System approach as advocated by the Cumberford-Little report.
- Abandon the outdated binary distinctions between FE and HE – we must also stop using these redundant hierarchical terms as policy anchors.
- Formally establish a unified tertiary system that interconnects the senior phase of schools, with apprenticeships, colleges, and universities.
- Remind our public policy makers and funders that homogeneity is not a synonym for efficiency; policy must embrace diversity in both mission and function.
- Reform must recognise risk and variation: SFC reports demonstrate significant differences in financial position between institutions – a one-size-fits-all approach will fail.
Immediate actions
- Abandon the habitual flat-cash funding settlements that mask a cut and fail to keep pace with inflationary pressures.
- Reverse real-term cuts to college funding and stabilise the core structural funding base.
- Address the inequity in student support: FE students receive ~£5,000 in support compared with ~£11,000 for HE students living independently.
- Address the inequity in public investment per learner studying the same Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework level of qualification.
- Cap reforms: College activity is effectively capped through credit targets – just like universities, this is pushing learners out of the system.
- Direct immediate capital to prevent collapse in high-cost provision and maintain safe, modern technical estates.
- Avoid short-termism: focus public debate on structural funding issues to create political space for long-term solutions.
Structural reforms
- Replace the SFC’s historic funding formula with a dynamic, needs-based model responsive to demand and outcomes.
- Reallocate Graduate Apprenticeships as a core offer within colleges, not universities.
- Create new accountability frameworks with real-time metrics across the tertiary system.
- Undertake a forensic Value for Money review of all post-school education delivery.
- Incentivise and support deeper collaboration across the system with a place-based focus.
- Support income diversification and agility: SFC notes that 76% of college income remains grant-dependent, reducing strategic flexibility. Colleges must be empowered to innovate with industry.
Strategic investment in demand-led provision
- Incentivise colleges to expand upskilling, reskilling, and lifelong learning.
- Support part-time, flexible, and fast-track learning pathways aligned with regional economic needs.
- Invest in applied innovation and business support to help drive economic growth.
- Prioritise sectors critical to climate transition, advanced digital skills, and manufacturing – areas requiring specialist facilities and staff.
Conclusion
Colleges are pivotal anchor institutions in regional economies. Their worth and associated funding needs an urgent re-evaluation. They are too vital to Scotland’s future workforce – especially in delivering vocational and technical skills. They offer a greater range of inclusive learning pathways, regional accessibility, greater curriculum agility, and better value for money than many other parts of the system. Colleges educate the individual for life, not just for a profession.
Terms like reform or college transformation are bandied about far too casually to institutions facing existential futures in the absence of providing any meaningful levels of new transitional funding. Ultimately, short-termism has a cost.
When circumstances change policy must change too. It is no longer acceptable to manage scarcity and exclusivity in post-school education. Scotland must stop avoiding the problem and start funding the opportunities that exist.
A rebalanced, integrated tertiary system – with a properly funded, strategically empowered college sector at its heart – is essential for Scotland’s future economic and social prosperity.
As public commentary stresses, the proverbial wolf is at the door now, and not acting is no longer a credible option. With a rapidly changing demographic, the future of Scotland’s workforce depends on the survival and renewal of its colleges.
We will not be forgiven if we let our colleges wither in a parlous state of subsistence, limping along hopelessly from crisis to crisis. We must match the rhetoric with real funding or else we will surely have unmanaged decline and many fewer colleges.
References
Further Education Trust for Leadership (2019). Colleges as anchors in their spaces: A study in college leadership of place.
Audit Scotland (2025). Scotland’s Colleges 2025 briefing.
Scottish Funding Council (2025). Financial Sustainability of Colleges in Scotland 2022-23 to 2027-28.
The Scotsman (2025). Scotland’s Colleges: Why We Must Act Now.
Royal Society of Edinburgh (2025). Funding of Tertiary Education in Scotland Conference Programme.
Colleges Scotland: College Sector Statement of Ambition 2021 – 2026
The Cumberford-Little Report (2020). One Tertiary System: agile, collaborative, inclusive.
Further Education Trust for Leadership (2019). Colleges as anchors in their spaces: A study in college leadership of place.
6. Afterword
Baroness Alison Wolf
All national tertiary systems have their own unique features, and that is certainly true of Scotland. It possesses a university network which is richly varied, including both long-lived and outstanding ancient universities and newer institutions which embody a range of successful innovations. It also has a college sector with a clearer and more coherent mission than any other of the ‘5 Nations’ can boast. So structurally, the country is well positioned for the future. But as these papers show, quite incontrovertibly, the current funding system has failed and is failing. Looking from outside, I can only agree with the Convenors, and indeed with everyone I know in Scotland’s universities and colleges. Things need to change.
Some of the issues and challenges are specific to Scotland, or, more accurately, to Scotland’s recent history and politics. But just as the country’s tertiary system has both unique features, and many that are common to the developed world, so its financial pressures derive in good part from shared international developments. Of these the most important are surging enrolment rates; the cost pressures engendered by ‘Baumol’s disease’; and the impact of international student recruitment on political incentives. Let me say a little about each.
Enrolment growth
Until very recently only a tiny proportion of the population experienced university education. In the vast bulk of the economy the universities were irrelevant, and most people spent their lives with no direct contact with university institutions. And other than, in some countries, serving as pipelines for the staffing of national churches, universities were not part of governments’ active programme of rule, or seen as instruments of activist social and economic policy.
On the eve of the Second World War, European universities were still recognisably true to this type: in 1938 about 2% of young people in advanced economies such as England, France or Germany were enrolled for degrees, most of them men, and most of them paying their own fees.
After the war, this pattern changed. Successive governments of all political persuasions expanded university and other tertiary provision and also moved to make tuition free, or at least cheap. (The extent to which this extended to providing maintenance support varied much more widely than the approach to tuition fees.) Today, across Europe – and the OECD nations as a whole – around half of young adults are qualified to degree level.
Figure 1 illustrates this, using OECD data for a group of affluent North European countries. It is noteworthy that, even in Germany and Switzerland, which have exemplary apprenticeship systems, participation has soared. Of course each country’s sector has grown in specific ways, with differences of detail. But the pattern is a general one. Participation rates in some non-European countries, notably in East Asia, have gone even higher.
For the last 75 years, European governments of all political persuasions have driven and paid for expansion, and have committed to making access easy. As a result they incurred large new financial obligations. These were relatively easy to meet in the first decades of the enrolment boom, but they have become less and less so: and in many cases there is a very evident fall in funding per student.
Seen in European context, Scotland has been fairly unusual in operating strict enrolment caps, which in theory could limit costs. However these have not, in practice, been used to suppress participation by a significant amount and buck the European – and global – trend. As a result, and in common with other countries, the cost of higher education has become a major issue. The simplest response, in this situation, is simply to cut real funding per student, and a good many countries have done this. As the papers in this volume point out, Scotland’s universities are now funded at a significantly lower level per student than England’s, while cuts to real funding levels for colleges have had a clear impact not just on numbers but on the type of course which the sector can provide.
Obviously, cuts in real funding levels directly affect quality. At the end of a period of plenty, there may be efficiency savings to be made, but these are finite. And the situation for higher education is made worse by the nature of what universities do. There are no wonderful technological saviours coming over the horizon to transform ‘productivity’. But universities are also subject to ‘Baumol’s disease’.
Baumol’s disease
High quality teaching is labour-intensive and therefore expensive. Politicians (and sector leaders) have longed for decades for some wonderful innovation that would transform the sector and produce genuine, huge productivity gains. That means securing the same outcomes for less cost, as opposed to substituting an inferior cheaper offer for what previous generations enjoyed. That longing helps explains the huge excitement once generated by MOOCs, as well as repeated wishful thinking about a succession of machine-based/online/remote innovations.
We don’t know how to transform the process of human learning, and while it is of course possible that AI will be different, so far the signs aren’t very good. Equally, we do know that high quality teaching input and high-quality feedback matter. We have good research evidence to confirm that. And that means that the challenge for higher education isn’t just the absence of breakthrough innovations. It’s the rising cost of ‘inputs’ – the human beings who staff our institutions. If we want to maintain the same quality we actually have to pay more, even though their ‘productivity’ isn’t changing, and it takes just as long to give good individual feedback on a dissertation as it did 20, 40, 60 years ago.
The core explanation for this is “Baumol’s cost disease,” named after the economist who elucidated it. Essentially, real wage or salary costs tend to rise in service industries with stagnant productivity when and because productivity is rising in other parts of the economy. The classic example is music – it takes exactly as long for musicians today to give a live performance of a string quartet as it did their predecessors in 1800, but their wages are hugely higher. They have to be, because there has been enormous productivity growth in much of our economies; overall, real wages have therefore soared; and no-one would be a skilled, highly trained musician today for the wage that was paid in 1800.
Universities face the same problem as orchestras. If they want to employ highly skilled people they have to pay them salaries that are competitive. Of course, there are compensations to academic life, but no more than there used to be, and maybe fewer. And non-academic employees operate in national labour markets. So if salaries dive, so will the quality and number of the people willing to do the job. Colleges in England are currently facing a really acute problem, and often pausing student recruitment, as the gap between the salaries they can pay their lecturers, and the rewards of private sector work in engineering, construction or IT turns into a gulf.
Governments have resisted the implications of this ‘disease’, unsurprisingly. But it is becoming even more of a challenge as recruitment becomes increasingly international, notably for academic researchers. It is also one of the reasons that tertiary institutions have become so active and determined in seeking out opportunities to make additional money, notably but not only by entering a market for students which is also increasingly global.
The politics of international recruitment
Adam Smith was not a fan of the University of Oxford, which he attended after earlier studying in Glasgow. He concluded that “the greater part of the public professors have, for these many years, given up altogether even the pretence of teaching” ; supported by the colleges’ ample endowments, they did not need to bestir themselves, and did not. Smith did not doubt that academics and universities, just as much as tradesmen and manufacturers, responded to incentives.
In recent decades, most universities in most countries have faced direct cost pressures; and all universities have experienced a shift to an increasingly global environment. This is marked by large numbers of students studying away from their home countries, an increasingly mobile academic workforce, and the development of high-profile ranking exercises, which get wide attention, including from politicians. Universities in English-speaking countries have been especially well-placed to benefit. This is because of the emergence of English as a global language, with its use as ubiquitous in research settings everywhere as Latin was in European universities’ founding years, and also because their relative autonomy has given them the freedom to respond at speed. They have duly responded to the incentives on offer.
Globally, Scotland’s universities are seen as part of the UK system, and benefit from its current high prestige as well as contributing to it. So for example, the University of the West of Scotland and Glasgow Caledonian are among the many UK universities opening London campuses to recruit international business students; Heriot-Watt among the many opening overseas campuses to offer a ‘British’ university education more cheaply than by coming to the UK to study. Among research-intensive universities, the 5 with the highest proportion of international students are LSE, Imperial, UCL, Edinburgh and St Andrews – three in London, two in Scotland.
The growth of international recruitment has been hugely helpful to universities’ finances in the main receiving countries. But they also reduce the pressure on governments to maintain core funding levels. And they introduce a destabilising element. Recruitment, and funding uplift are not uniform across the system: international students are largely in universities, and other types of institution (such as colleges) have far less opportunity to benefit, and cross-subsidise. They also have a major internal impact. Activity and influence shift to central marketing teams; leaders are occupied with external programmes; disciplines which can recruit easily, require little costly infrastructure, and are not tied into national professional standards and requirements expand at a much faster rate than others.
The surge in international recruitment arrived at great speed. It could also fall away fast, but until it does universities will no doubt all stay on the dance floor. But in thinking about the future of tertiary financing, governments – including Scotland’s – would be well advised to think more seriously about how international students affect the tertiary system as a whole, rather than simply treating their arrival as a way to relieve cost pressures.
In summary, the pressures and challenges facing Scotland are both specific to the Scottish system, and echo developments elsewhere. And the wider perspective confirms that funding problems are extremely unlikely to resolve themselves without coherent system-wide action.
7. References and optional reading list
Below, there is a range of wider optional reading material and references on tertiary education in Scotland and the UK that delegates might wish to consider ahead or indeed after the RSE conference.
Student Support for Undergraduates Across the UK in 2025/26; House of Commons Library; Research Briefing; April 2025 https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-10221/
SFC Indicative Allocations for Colleges for 2025/26; (previous years’ allocations also available from SFC website) https://www.sfc.ac.uk/publications/college-indicative-funding-allocations-2025-26/
SFC Indicative Allocations for Universities for 2025/26; (previous years’ allocations also available from SFC website) https://www.sfc.ac.uk/publications/university-indicative-funding-allocations-2025-26/
Public Perceptions of HE Funding in Scotland; Carnegie Trust-Commissioned Ipsos UK Survey; March 2025 https://carnegie-trust.org/new-report-on-higher-education-funding-published/
Tertiary Education and Training (Funding and Governance) (Scotland) Bill; introduced to Scottish Parliament; February 2025 https://www.parliament.scot/bills-and-laws/bills/s6/tertiary-education-and-training-funding-andgovernance-scotland-bill
Scottish Parliament Research Briefing on the Bill: https://digitalpublications.parliament.scot/ResearchBriefings/Report/2025/4/24/7a2da067-3dd8-4798-872b-fc8cf49665fc
Are Universities Worth It? A review of the evidence and policy options; King’s College London for the Resolution Foundation; January 2025 https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/are-universities-worth-it/
Student Finance and Wellbeing Study Scotland 2023-2024 explores student’s financial experiences whilst studying at college and university in Scotland; Scottish Government; December 2024 https://www.gov.scot/publications/student-finance-wellbeing-study-sfws-scotland-2023-2024main-report/
Evolution of Devolution: how higher education policy has diverged across the four nations of the UK; HEPI; December 2024 https://www.hepi.ac.uk/2024/12/05/evolution-of-devolution-how-higher-education-policy-hasdiverged-across-the-four-nations-of-the-uk/
Scottish Parliament Pre-Budget Scrutiny Report for 2025/26 that focused on the sustainability of funding for colleges and universities; October 2024 https://www.parliament.scot/-/media/files/committees/rural-affairs-and-islandscommittee/correspondence/2024/prebudget-2025-to-2026-9-october-2024.pdf
Colleges Scotland Budget Submission 2025/26 https://collegesscotland.ac.uk/documents/briefings-and-publications/publications/2369-csbudget-submission-2025-26-final-final/file
Universities Scotland Budget Case for 2025/26: Opportunity and Inclusive Growth in a Time of Challenge https://www.universities-scotland.ac.uk/publications/sector-sustainability-for-scotlands-growth/
Financial Sustainability of UK universities; Universities UK commissioned PwC to review; October 2024 https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/what-we-do/policy-and-research/publications/financialsustainability-uk-universities
Colleges’ financial challenges, Audit Scotland; September 2024 https://audit.scot/publications/scotlands-colleges-2024
Economic Impact of Higher Education; Universities UK; September 2024 https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/latest/news/new-report-reveals-key-role-universities
A collection of essays on the future of higher, further and tertiary education across the UK; King’s College London; August 2024 https://www.kcl.ac.uk/policy-institute/assets/higher-further-or-tertiary.pdf
How Should Undergraduate Degrees be Funded?; A collection of essays; HEPI; April 2024 https://www.hepi.ac.uk/2024/04/11/how-should-undergraduate-degrees-be-funded-a-collectionof-essays/
Examination of HE fees and funding across the UK; London Economics (funded by the Nuffield Foundation); February 2024 https://londoneconomics.co.uk/blog/publication/general-election-briefings-examination-ofhigher-education-fees-and-funding-across-the-uk/
Scottish Budget: Higher Education Spending; IFS; February 2024 https://ifs.org.uk/publications/scottish-budget-higher-education-spending
Scotland’s Colleges 2023 Briefing paper; Audit Scotland; 2023 https://audit.scot/uploads/docs/report/2023/briefing_230907_colleges_2023.pdf
The Economic Contribution of Colleges in Scotland; Fraser of Allander; October 2023 https://fraserofallander.org/publications/the-economic-contribution-of-colleges-in-scotland/
The Independent Review of the Skills Delivery Landscape by James Withers; Scottish Government; June 2023 https://www.gov.scot/publications/fit-future-developing-post-school-learning-system-fueleconomic-transformation/
Tertiary Education Futures Report; Royal Society of Edinburgh; 2023 https://rse.org.uk/programme/policy-advice/projects/tertiary-education-futures/
College of the Future Publications; The Independent Commission on The College of the Future; 2020 – 2022 https://www.aoc.co.uk/the-college-alliance/college-of-the-future/publications
Review of Coherent Provision and Sustainability; SFC; 2020 https://www.sfc.ac.uk/publications/sfccp052020/
Cumberford-Little report on the Economic Impact of Scotland’s Colleges; 2019 https://doc.edinburghcollege.ac.uk/c-l%20report.pdf
Targeted Tuition Fees: Is means-testing the answer?; Alex Usher and Robert Burroughs; HEPI; 2018 https://www.hepi.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/HEPI-Targeted-tuition-fees-Is-meanstesting-the-answer-Report-112-1.pdf
Student financial support in Scotland: independent review; 2017 https://www.gov.scot/publications/independent-review-student-financial-support-scotland/
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