Rennie welcomes willingness to discuss university funding

He also called on the Scottish Government to improve data collection as part of efforts to widen access to university.

Mr Dey made the comments at this morning’s session of the Education, Children and Young People Committee at Holyrood, where MSPs took evidence from him and the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills on the draft budget. Following a series of questions from Mr Rennie on the sustainability of university finances the minister said: “I agree with you about that discussion that needs to be had around what does future financing look like. I absolutely agree with that.”

Earlier in the session he told MSPs: “It’s perfectly reasonable for the university sector to want to start a conversation about what future funding looks like and we’re open to those conversations. […] We’re open to those conversations of future funding models.”

Speaking after the committee session, Willie Rennie said: “We need a frank discussion about the sustainability of university finances in Scotland. Teaching funding from the Scottish Government for domestic students has fallen by 22% since 2013-14. Universities have become increasingly reliant on the income from foreign students to cross-subsidise teaching and research, leaving them vulnerable to changes in policy and global shocks.

“There are already real warning signs about the health of certain institutions and the sector as a whole. Net liquidity and cash flow figures both show a worrying decline over the last five years. These are symptoms of the current crisis facing some institutions.

“I was glad that the higher education minister clearly signalled today that the government is open to discussions on future funding models for universities. This represents a significant change of position. I hope that these discussions can engage MSPs and stakeholders in a broad and constructive way to find a sustainable solution.”

On improving data in efforts to widen access to university, he added: “I’ve seen myself in St Andrews the extraordinary work they’ve done on widening access. I have witnessed the university get students from disadvantaged backgrounds into the institution and how it supports them to stay and complete their courses.

“However we also need to look at more sophisticated data to support the widening access agenda and work in universities across Scotland. Current measures are too broad and I believe that with appropriate data-sharing arrangements we could be using more personalised data to target the right people.”