Scottish Tories pledge to protect free university tuition

Free tuition for Scottish students would be protected under the Conservatives, according to the party’s manifesto for the upcoming election, which also pledged to “tackle the default assumption that university is the best option”.

Policies for the Holyrood vote on 7 May have been revealed by the centre right party which is currently polling at around 10 per cent nationally – behind the Scottish National Party, Labour and Reform UK.

If it were to form a government, the Tory party said it would retain free university tuition for Scottish students but would also “look at alternative systems that put Scottish students on an even footing when it comes to getting into universities in Scotland”.

The totemic policy, first introduced by the SNP but now backed by all the major campaigns, has come under scrutiny recently owing to the perilous state of the finances of most Scottish institutions.

Funding per student lags far behind what equivalent universities receive in fees in England, with some institutions favouring English enrolments in order to bring in more income, penalising Scottish students who hope to study in the country.

Despite the pressures, none of the major parties were expected to pledge to look again at the system, with the new commitment from the Tories, seen as the most likely to renege on free fees, confirming it is unlikely to be challenged this election.

Labour and the SNP are yet to reveal their manifestos while Reform UK, which published its offer last month, declined to mention fees.

Instead its brief document – coming in at only 17 pages compared with the Tories’ 96 – pledged to “undertake a comprehensive review of our university funding to ensure degrees are meaningful, value-for-money and grounded in genuine academic merit rather than EDI or sustainability metrics”.

Scotland is currently already conducting a review of university funding that is looking “at everything except fees”, according to the current higher education minister Ben Macpherson.

The Tory manifesto said that it will consider the findings of this exercise as it develops its higher education offer.

Overall the document emphasised the need for multiple options for young people after they finished school and “it should not be assumed that university is the only path to earning a decent wage”.

“We would actively encourage young people to choose the pathway that is right for them and lead by example by changing Scottish Government recruitment rules so that no vacancies in the civil service are advertised as requiring a university degree,” the manifesto says.

Apprenticeships would be boosted under a Tory regime, with the manifesto stating that the party would ensure “revenue raised by the Apprenticeship Levy goes towards supporting a new demand-led apprenticeship model”.

This would be part of a wider reorganisation of further and higher education to “address skills gaps in our economy”.

A new skills bill would “establish a permanent framework for cooperation between businesses and our further and higher educational establishments, so that skills gaps can be swiftly identified by companies”, the manifesto says.

“Our colleges and universities can then adapt their courses to meet demand, meaning these skills gaps are quickly addressed.”

tom.williams@timeshighereducation.com