Hansard

In December, I launched the higher education green paper, “Building a Smarter Future”. The debate that followed has attracted interest from almost 2,000 people; however, it was simply a staging post in a longer process. I would like to thank everyone who has taken part since we began our discussions on the sustainable long-term future of higher education at the National Union of Students Scotland conference last March. The input and participation of more than 80 organisations have fully justified our approach. Contributions have been both thoughtful and radical.

By any measure, this has been a comprehensive examination of the issues. Rather than merely reviewing the challenges, we have been working with the sector to tackle them. This is action, not words. So today I set out my intentions for how this Government will respond to those challenges if successfully returned in May.

When I began this process, my aim was to find a uniquely Scottish solution that embraces Scotland’s best traditions as a learning nation. It must also sit with our proud history of the democratic intellect, which has underpinned the global success of this sector for centuries. The foundations for the future must be built on four key principles: excellence, inclusiveness, collaboration and investment—investment for the benefit of society as well as the economy. The overarching philosophy remains that education must be based on ability, not ability to pay.

The tradition of free education in Scotland has, of course, been under threat from successive decisions taken in London over the past 15 years. The Labour Government began the move to shift responsibility for funding universities from the state to the student by introducing fees. The Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition at Westminster embraced that approach and has taken it further.

This year, we in Scotland will invest a record £1.1 billion in our university and college sector. Over the past few months, we have worked closely with Universities Scotland to establish what level of investment might be required to keep the sector competitive in future. I can confirm today that this Government—if returned—will ensure that the gap required to maintain our competitive position within the United Kingdom is closed. And I can confirm that we will not introduce tuition fees, up front or backdoor, or any form of graduate contribution.

I want to turn now to how we will fill the gap. As I have often said, there is no silver bullet, so instead we will fill any gap through a number of initiatives. The first of those is what we charge students from the rest of the UK. In an ideal world, no student attending a Scottish university would pay fees. However, the rest of the UK has fees, and its politicians have the right to make that choice. My main priority is to protect opportunities for Scottish students to study at Scottish institutions. I make no apologies for that.

It has been said by some that increasing fees for students coming from elsewhere in the UK is a move to subsidise Scottish education. It is not. Those students are already required by their home nations to contribute to the costs of their higher education. We are simply putting in place a mechanism in Scotland that allows such policies to be implemented irrespective of where people study. That is the reality of devolution.

The technical working group that I established with Universities Scotland did, however, identify up to £62 million in additional income from students from the rest of the UK. So I can today confirm that we will increase fees paid by students from the rest of the UK. We will announce the detail in due course.

I have long had concerns about the subsidy that we pay for European Union students. The numbers have almost doubled over the past decade—the cost to the Scottish taxpayer stands at £75 million. So I also intend to explore further, within the boundaries of European law, the possibility of reducing that. The respected economists Jim and Margaret Cuthbert have highlighted the system that operates in Ireland, where a student service charge is levelled on all undergraduates—though the Irish Government offers means-tested support to Irish students to cover the costs. I believe that we should investigate that, and any similar schemes elsewhere, in more detail. In doing so, I make it clear that we would support such an arrangement only if we could pay the charge for all Scottish students. If a scheme similar to the one that we understand operates in Ireland were possible, it could generate up to £22 million.

We will be looking to universities to make significant, sustained and measurable progress in a number of areas, including philanthropic giving, increased engagement with business, greater efficiencies and more shared services. Those measures could close the gap further still. Universities have accepted that, by applying the same efficiency levels as the public sector, they can achieve savings of £26 million next year. It is true that universities elsewhere will also be pursuing efficiencies, but we expect Scottish institutions to pursue theirs aggressively.

My analysis of the technical working group’s figures suggests that a net funding gap of about £93 million could emerge with the rest of the UK in 2014-15. If we take into account the additional measures on UK and—if possible—EU students, without factoring in the £26 million efficiencies, the gap could fall to about £70 million.

Let me repeat unequivocally the assurances that the First Minister has given in relation to our commitment on public funding. Any funding gap will be closed. Indeed, to quote the First Minister directly:

“The rocks will melt wi the sun before I allow tuition fees to be imposed on Scottish students—upfront or backdoor.”

Learning, teaching and access prompted almost the same level of response to the green paper as funding did. I reaffirm my commitment to our four-year degree, although we need greater flexibility in how it is delivered. Learners must have more control over their own learning, choosing whether they want to study over three, four, five or even more years. We must encourage more part-time learning and support better articulation between school, college and university. As part of that, we will continue to develop the Scottish baccalaureate, expanding it into more subject areas and promoting its use to gain advanced entry to university.

More specifically, I have asked the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council to take forward a project on advanced entry and articulation. It will report this summer, with recommendations on how further to reduce the length of time that learners spend achieving a degree. It will also consider increasing the role that colleges play in delivering higher education. The conclusions of the study will underpin a new commitment to flexible access and study, and a firmer adherence to the Scottish credit and qualifications framework—the SCQF. We will legislate where necessary.

I place on record how much I have appreciated the pragmatic way in which university principals have responded to the funding pressures next year and their participation in discussions. We have learned much from each other. I want to support them in their work and to ensure that that work is supported from within their institutions.

The historic success of our sector has been built on such an exemplar of democratic intellect, and it is essential that it is protected. If returned, I intend to explore the issue of accountability, specifically the balance between accounting for public funds and preserving the benefits of an autonomous sector—and to examine that issue more fully with university principals, chairs of court, staff and students. As part of that, I will seek to remove the functions of the Privy Council in relation to the governance of Scottish institutions where we can, replacing it with a modern and transparent process.

This Government has a strong track record in improving student support. Since 2007, we have reintroduced free education, preserved the education maintenance allowance—the EMA—and increased grants by 25 per cent, but we still have more to do. Therefore, we are working closely with NUS Scotland to develop a simpler, clearer system that moves towards our ambition of a £7,000 minimum income entitlement, starting with the poorest students. We will also seek to establish a binding set of goals for access and drop-out rates.

On developing our international position, we will exploit the newly developed branding messages to promote Scottish universities. We will support collaboration across the sector through a fresh round of projects under our innovative strategic investment fund.

I intend to strengthen our partnerships with China, India and North America—specifically, I intend to sign a new memorandum of understanding with China’s ministry of education. This Government, which delivered the year of homecoming, will now promote a year of mobility to forge stronger links between Scottish academics and students across Europe and beyond.

Scotland is not just a world leader in terms of the quality of its university research; it is a world beater. Our research pooling programme is recognised globally and it is time to take it to the next level by introducing an international dimension to the best pools.

The consultation responses supported Scotland maximising the amount of research funding that is won from European sources. We are already engaged with the Commission in influencing the shape of the next framework programme. A priority will be to improve links between business and universities.

The final issue that I want to cover is how the sector is shaped to deliver that. The tripartite relationship between Government, the Scottish funding council and Universities Scotland is strong and has allowed us to deliver much—most notably a deal that will mean that student numbers are held steady next year. I confirm our commitment to the relationship, but it will evolve and I will seek reforms to streamline the SFC’s operations in future.

On our plans for colleges, I know that there is an appetite for change. Our work will take account of the thinking of all stakeholders, and learners will be at its heart. We will look at matters such as funding and outcomes, collaboration between colleges and other partners, creativity and the role of business.

The green paper covered many subjects and I have been able to touch on only a few. If we are returned, we will publish a comprehensive and conclusive set of proposals on all areas before the end of the summer and we will legislate before the end of the year. That honours the commitment that I made to the sector when it agreed to find a way to cope with the budget reductions next year.

In his inaugural speech as rector of the University of St Andrews on 19 March 1869, the historian James Anthony Froude said:

“There is no occasion to tell a Scotchman to value education ... It is fair all round to poor and rich alike. You have broken down, or you never permitted to rise, the enormous barrier of expense which makes the highest education in England a privilege of the wealthy.”

That was true in the mid 19th century. It must remain true in the 21st century. There must be—there will be—no barriers to education in Scotland.