SCOTLAND’S oldest universities are increasingly better at coping with “severe funding challenges” compared to newer institutions, the public spending watchdog has said.
Tuition fees from outside the EU and greater financial reserves mean three of the four ancient universities are generally better placed to respond to these pressures, according to Scotland’s Auditor General.
Having faced a 7% real-terms cut – equivalent to £91 million – in Government funding between 2014-15 and 2017-18, the financial gap between the older universities, whose incomes have risen, and the more recently established institutions is growing.
Auditor General for Scotland Caroline Gardner said Glasgow, Edinburgh and St Andrews universities are “stretching ahead of the rest” due to larger pots of money and increasing revenue from tuition fees paid by students from outside the EU.
Some 32% of ancient universities’ income comes from tuition fees.
Modern universities rely on government funding for more than half of their income and have had smaller increases in revenue from other sources.
Despite reductions in money from the Scottish Funding Council, eight of Scotland’s 18 universities – Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, St Andrews, Dundee, Heriot-Watt, Stirling and Strathclyde – have generally continued to increase their income, mainly from non-EU tuition fees.
Gardner said: “There’s significant variation in the financial strength of Scotland’s university sector.
“A small number of universities are stretching ahead of the rest and are in a better position to deal with the financial pressures facing the whole sector. But they still face strong global competition.
“More work needs to be done to make sure that universities’ outcome agreements provide a clearer picture of what each institution is contributing to the Government’s national priorities.”
Tuition fees replaced Scottish Funding Council grants as the single-largest income source for the sector in 2017-18, and representative body Universities Scotland has said the next Budget from the Scottish Government “will be vital to the sustainability of the higher education sector”.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here