Responding to Scottish Government plans to allow Scottish universities to charge students from the rest of the UK up to £9,000 per year, Scottish Labour's Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education, Ken Macintosh MSP, said:

“Allowing Scottish universities to charge students from the rest of the UK up to £36,000 for a degree is one sure fire way to discourage these students from studying in Scotland.

“There is a real danger that the SNP’s plans to over-charge students from the rest of the UK will be counterproductive. At this level, they risk deterring students from studying in Scotland altogether and having the perverse effect of making the funding gap bigger not smaller.

“We need to introduce fees for the rest of the UK students to prevent Scotland’s institutions being seen as a cheap option, but this goes so far that these students could be put off all together.

“A delicate balancing act needs to be struck but the Cabinet Secretary has got it far wrong. 

“People will be astonished that the SNP have ramped up fees for students higher than even the Tories and Lib Dems at Westminster dared.

“We need to treat the issue of addressing the funding gap with the seriousness and urgency it deserves to ensure Scotland’s universities remain world-leading."

29 June 2011