Scottish Conservatives open to reintroducing tuition fees

Russell Findlay, leader of the Scottish Conservative Party has indicated they would be open to bringing back university tuition feeds amid fears the existing model is unsustainable. 

Mr Findlay said: “It’s something that needs to be looked at, and that’s something that we are actively looking at.

“There are people who are of the view that [free tuition] should be gotten rid of entirely, and there are others who want to maintain it no matter what. And it might well be that there’s some kind of compromise that needs to be reached because it’s clearly financially unstable under the existing model.”

This announcement came after three days of strike action by the University and College Union Edinburgh which took place from the 17th to 19th of November.

Scottish undergraduates have had free tuition since 2008. However, whether this is financially sustainable is the subject of strong debate.

Critics in the sector have said that instability is caused by the Scottish Government not supplying enough funding.

This academic year, Scottish universities were predicted to receive £7,530 of direct public funding per Scottish student, according to a report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies published in November 2024.

Researchers claim there has been a 22 per cent decline  of funding per student since 2013-14.

Critics have said this decline means universities have become dependent on fees from international students, limiting how many Scottish students they accept.

A range of measures are being considered. One suggestion by the Scottish Tory leader was a tax on the earnings of graduates, however he did not offer any details.

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He said that the impact of any decisions would need to be carefully considered: “If you’re a parent, and you’re already paying eye-watering sums of taxation, higher tax than anywhere else in the United Kingdom, the idea that you would rip up free tuition and start again and then hit them with that additional cost … it would take a great deal of thinking about.”

This comes as the Scottish Tories have announced their intentions to increase the number of apprenticeships available, to help deal with skills shortages and ensure training is more directly applicable to the workplace.

Apprenticeship colleges in Scotland have also suffered from funding cuts, with two needing emergency funding from the Scottish Funding Council, and a reported 20 per cent cut in real-terms in the last five years according to Audit Scotland.

Mr Findlay criticised SNP ministers for trying to “bury their heads in the sand” on the issue of university funding, as “They don’t want to upset anyone, but because [of that] we end up in this catastrophic situation.”

An SNP spokesperson told The Telegraph:“Scotland’s young people have felt the worst effects of Tory rule – a stagnant UK economy where it’s harder to make ends meet and Brexit taking away countless opportunities.

“Now Russell Findlay wants to reintroduce tuition fees – no wonder his party looks set to lose most of their seats in May.”

Universities Scotland, the body which represents the sector are working with ministers and political leaders to implement a 20-year strategy to stabilise Scottish university funding.

Meanwhile, disputes continue at Edinburgh University as staff demand that university leadership do not make any compulsory redundancies, amid fears in the University and College Union that 1,800 jobs could be axed.