Scottish universities face ‘significant challenges’ in funding - report

Scottish higher education faces significant funding challenges which could lead to Scots-based students finding it harder to secure a place at university, a new report has found.

Public spending watchdog Audit Scotland reported despite being successful and internationally renowned, the sector faces “significant challenges” from increasing costs and potential further reductions in Scottish Government funding.

Teaching funding is currently being under-funded by six per cent per student, it warned, and further cuts would put high-quality teaching at risk.

RELATED CONTENT

Scotland's universities seek to boost their overseas influence

Scottish universities hit by strike

The Brexit fallout will make bittersweet history

There are also risks to universities' ability to continue increasing income from other sources, the report concluded. This has led to it getting increasingly harder for Scottish and EU-domiciled students – who don’t pay fees – to get a place at Scotland’s universities

"The student population is becoming increasingly international," it said.

Auditor General for Scotland Caroline Gardner said: “Given the growing pressures on public finances, the Scottish Government must be clear about its priorities for higher education and how it will target public funding to support those aims. It also needs to work with the Scottish Funding Council and universities to plan for addressing the challenges ahead.”

Professor Pete Downes, Convener of Universities Scotland and Principal of the University of Dundee, said the vote to leave the European Union, made after work on this report had been completed, added to the uncertainty.

“We want to work closely with the Scottish Government, Funding Council and other stakeholders to address these challenges. We need to start from the same place; that higher education funding should be sustainable and competitive,” he said.

“There is a need to start these discussions early in the summer, made all the more urgent by the Brexit vote, as funding decisions taken for higher education in the next few years will be very important to our long-term future.”

Audit Scotland also warned the Scottish Government’s ambitions to widen access to university would need to be supported by public funding.

This was welcomed by the National Union of Students in Scotland. President Vonnie Sandlan said: “We must also ensure the necessary financial support those students need to not just access education, but stay there and reach their full potential.”