‘We will stand by free tuition fees’

Education Minister Jenny Gilruth has vowed the SNP will “stand by” free tuition fees despite the funding crisis facing Scotland’s universities.

Scotland is the only UK nation to offer free university tuition to its home students.

The future of the policy has been questioned amid a funding crisis in the sector, which was brought into sharp focus last week after Dundee University announced it is to cut 632 jobs in a bid to address a £35m deficit.

Gilruth described its situation as “deeply concerning” but added factors such as inflationary pressures and national insurance contributions were having a wider impact on the higher education sector.

She told BBC Scotland’s The Sunday Show: “My party, the SNP, is never going to support a policy where we bring back tuition fees.

“We need to look to the progress we have made in relation to widening access to children from our poorer communities.

“We have seen real and significant progress in that.”

The Dundee University cuts, announced on Tuesday, represents about 20% of the university’s workforce of more than 3,000 people.

Interim principal Prof Shane O’Neill also confirmed an external investigation would also be conducted into “what went wrong.”

Elsewhere, the University of Edinburgh is looking to make £140m of cuts over the next 18 months, Aberdeen University has cut staff through voluntary redundancy programmes and the city’s Robert Gordon University has put 135 roles “at risk”.

It has been suggested that more than 80 universities across the UK face deficits of between £10m and £50m, with Durham and Cardiff both planning significant spending cuts.

Gilruth said Dundee’s situation was “troubling” for staff and students alike.

And she confirmed the Scottish government had pledged an additional £10m to the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) to supplement the £15m that was put in place through the Scottish Budget.

Last week the University and College Union said Dundee staff were being made to pay the price for “egregious management failure”.

Gilruth also highlighted wider pressures, such as the rise in national insurance contributions announced by the Chancellor last October, which Universities Scotland say will cost institutions £45m.

Asked why the taxpayer should pay for students from wealthy families to attend university, the minister said: “Our policy on free tuition is well understood by the Scottish people and we don’t go back on our promises in relation to this.

“We have been very clear on our policy position on this over a number of years.

“Free tuition is a policy we will stand by.”

Pressed on whether it would be in the SNP’s Holyrood election manifesto next year, she replied: “Absolutely.”