Scottish universities are hoping to see a renewed commitment to investing in the sector as the country emerges from a period of political turmoil, but some have warned that the crisis is far from over, necessitating a rethink of even the country’s hallowed free tuition policy.
John Swinney, a former Scottish education minister, became the country’s new first minister this month after the short reign of his predecessor, Humza Yousaf, ended abruptly when he was forced to resign having terminated his coalition with the Scottish Greens.
Mr Swinney faces the challenge of attempting to run a minority government with apparently dwindling public support, with signs that the Scottish National Party’s long grip on power is waning as it heads into a UK general election this year and a Holyrood election by May 2026.
James Mitchell, professor of public policy at the University of Edinburgh, said the state of the public finances in Scotland meant that the country was going to have to ask itself some difficult questions about what it was prepared to cut, with its commitment to free university tuition one of the things he would be looking at.
The SNP has repeatedly signalled that it will make no such move – recently pledging to include it as part of a constitution should Scotland ever become independent – but the former Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale recently echoed Professor Mitchell’s comments on the podcast The Power Test, sparking a fierce backlash from SNP supporters.
Ms Dugdale is not close to the current Scottish Labour leadership and the party was quick to distance itself from any suggestion it was not committed to free university tuition. Professor Mitchell said this was indicative of how difficult it was to have a conversation about the fees policy.
Student groups were also quick to react. Ellie Gomersall, the NUS Scotland president, told Times Higher Education that free tuition was “non-negotiable” and any move to roll it back “will not stand”.
She said the policy had “opened many doors and benefited the whole country”, and “politicians should concentrate on removing barriers to education, not bringing back old ones”, calling for action on student poverty and the “hidden costs of studying”.
But Professor Mitchell said free tuition was now disadvantaging many Scottish students who could not get into Scottish universities because places were capped and were forced to either not go at all or pay fees in England.
He said the reluctance to address the fees question was leading to cuts being made in “easier” areas instead, with spending on the NHS and local government starting to fall.
Many university leaders agreed in private that something had to be done, he said, but none had been brave enough to speak out.
Instead, vice-chancellors had concentrated on repeating demands for more funding since Mr Swinney’s rise to power, after the last budget left them £48.5 million worse off.
Claire McPherson, the director of Universities Scotland, said that in his previous Cabinet roles Mr Swinney had “shown he understands the outstanding work universities do” and had “seen first-hand the sector’s significant contribution to the social, economic and cultural development of Scotland”.
But now universities were facing a “decade of budget cuts”, Ms McPherson added, plus “unprecedented challenges” in international student recruitment, and the new first minister should recognise that a “well-funded higher education sector is integral to the successful delivery of all aspects of his government’s agenda”.
The Scottish government will “continue to support the sector, including through investing in free tuition”, a spokesman said.
