By Keith Aitken in Edinburgh | 13 July 2011
Scottish Education Secretary Michael Russell is facing fresh pressure to account for an apparent ‘black hole’ in the funds available to pay for the policy of no tuition fees at Scottish universities.
It stems from yesterday's report from the Office for Fair Access on projected spending by universities in England charging fees of £6,000 a year and upwards.
According to Tory and Labour leaders, these figures point to a much higher level of fee income in England than the funding gap assumed by the Holyrood government in calculating the cost of meeting fees for Scottish students at Scotland’s universities.
The Scottish Government’s calculations were based on the assumption that English universities would charge an average fee of £7,500. But the Offa report reveals that more than a third of institutions will charge the full £9,000, indicating an average of £8,161.
Russell estimates a £155m funding gap by 2014/15 but has suggested this could be kept down to £93m next year by charging students from the rest of the UK £9,000 a year to study in Scotland. But the Offa figures imply that the actual gap could be £263m by 2014/15.
Russell’s projections have long been viewed sceptically by the higher education community, with the umbrella group Universities Scotland suggesting a shortfall of just over £200m. Some principals have put it even higher, and warned of dire consequences for the relative quality of Scottish higher education.
Two weeks ago, Russell told MSPs that he remained committed to funding the universities to retain a competitive position, and that he would work with the sector through the summer to agree a formula in the light of whatever Offa reported.
But he also insisted: ‘Higher education is based, and will continue to be based, in this country on the ability to learn, not the ability to pay.’
His Labour shadow, Ken Mackintosh, yesterday challenged Russell to ‘come clean’ about the costs of the no fees policy, while the Conservatives’ Liz Smith called the figures a ‘humiliation’ for the minister, and urged him to ‘stop living in fantasy land’.
