Ex-Edinburgh Napier v-c to lead university funding review group

The former vice-chancellor of Edinburgh Napier University is set to co-convene a cross-party review of university funding in Scotland. 

In late 2025 the Scottish government announced the creation of a framework for discussions on the sustainability of the nation’s universities, as part of a joint initiative with Universities Scotland. 

With the framework set to report in the autumn, a steering group consisting of leaders from within universities, the civil service, student and staff trade unions, and businesses has been formed to drive the discussions forward, Universities Scotland announced on 16 February. 

Andrea Nolan, who stepped down as principal and vice-chancellor of Edinburgh Napier University in December 2024, will co-convene the group, alongside Neil Rennick, director-general education and justice in the Scottish government. 

“The task we are taking on, to secure the future of our universities for the next generation, is not easy by any means, or it would not still be a problem in need of a solution,” said Nolan. 

“However, there is a great opportunity, one that we are keen to seize, to make recommendations so that the next Scottish government has a ready-made set of options that will deliver sustainability and success for our universities.”

Other members of the group, which held its first meeting this month, include: Clare McPherson, director of Universities Scotland; Andy Schofield, principal of the University of Glasgow; Alastair MacColl, chair of court at the University of the Highlands and Islands; Mary Senior, Scotland official at the University and College Union; and Sandy Begbie, chief executive of Scottish Financial Enterprise. 

“The shared sense of purpose we have to support one of Scotland’s national assets is incredibly motivating,” Nolan continued. “We won’t always agree but that adds to the strength and integrity of the process, so that when government and Parliament receive the end result they can take full confidence in it.”

The timeline of the framework coincides with parliamentary elections in Scotland in May 2026, where the current governing party, the Scottish National Party (SNP), is currently leading in the polls. 

SNP politicians have been clear that, if elected again, the government will not introduce tuition fees for Scottish students. 

Speaking to Times Higher Education earlier this week, Scotland’s higher education minister Ben Macpherson also ruled out a graduate tax but said that everything else would be on the table.  

Macpherson will not sit on the steering group but several civil servants will.

Macpherson told THE he had deliberately “put the framework in a place where it is not being directed by ministers so that it can come forward in the autumn with positions that have been constructed to recommend to ministers”. 

He said he had attended about five minutes of the first meeting. “What I felt in the room when I was there for that short period was a real determination to embrace this important piece of work and to work together to come forward with really meaningful solutions to make sure that the challenges that are coming at us are responded to and, ideally, we get ahead of them proactively,” he said.

He added that the process had been put in place with the “intention of implementing [the group’s] recommendations”.

“Given that people are putting in their time and their expertise and their creativity and their innovation and their experience, it’s important that we then take those recommendations seriously.”

helen.packer@timeshighereducation.com