'Radical change' vital if Scotland's universities and colleges are to survive, experts warn

This should include new funding models and and a rethink of university and college contributions to society, a new report claims.

Developed by former Scottish social justice minister Des McNulty and Huw Morris, a UCL Professor of Tertiary Education, the review claims a overhaul of funding is vital.

In a wide-ranging report, the Scottish Government is criticised for its "failure" to investigate root and branch changes to the system following the financial collapse of Dundee University.

Mr McNulty and Prof Morris say "nothing can be off the table" - from changing the length of the Scottish four-year degree to introducing tuition fees.

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Mr McNulty, chair of the Advisory Board at the Local Policy Innovation Partnership Hub at the University of Birmingham, said: “Scotland has a skills crisis.

“We can resolve it, but only if the tertiary sector collaborates to reduce and focuses on working with regional partners, including employers, to identify areas of economic growth potential and meet current and future skills needs.

“To get there, we need a broad public debate about the future of post-school education, including its funding and what the current system does and does not contribute to national and regional development.

“Nothing should be off the table.”

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The education experts find that funding for Scottish students is “defective and unsustainable”, perpetuated by the insistence on maintaining free university places for Scottish domiciled students.

The report highlights the expansion of profitable taught postgraduate courses, which generated more than £1.4billion into Scottish HE in 2023/24, has led to substantial staff recruitment to teach these “surplus generating” courses.

As universities appeal to international students to take these courses, staff are dealing with an increased workload.

If universities recruit above their capped numbers of Scottish domiciled students, they have a larger funding gap to fill.

“This represents an unacknowledged tension: free tuition aims to improve access for Scottish students, but funding caps limit Scottish-domiciled student numbers, while incentivising these universities to attract rest-of-UK and international students who pay fees to fill their courses,” the report says.

Prof Morris, Honorary Professor of Tertiary Education at the Institute of Education, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society said: “The near collapse at the University of Dundee ought to have been a crystallising event, generating discussion about hard choices on university funding - not just about its scale and who pays but also the objectives of public funding.

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“Instead, the Scottish Government battened down the hatches, offering money it previously argued wasn’t there to keep Dundee University afloat, while an inquiry focused on internal arrangements, avoiding looking at other actors and wider issues affecting the sector.

“Scotland can no longer afford to avoid hard questions.”

The Scottish Government has launched a new Framework for Sustainability and Success of Scotland’s Universities review.

However, Prof Morris criticised its remit as too narrow, calling it a “missed opportunity”.

A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: “We appreciate Enlighten’s engagement on these issues and will consider the report, however the Scottish Government’s commitment to free tuition is resulting in around 37,500 Scots securing university places in 2025, with record numbers of those from the most deprived areas. Scottish student debt levels are also the lowest in the UK and more than £21,000 lower on average compared to students in Wales.

“The Scottish Government recognises the vital role that universities play in Scotland’s economy and wider society, which is why we are investing over £1.1 billion in the sector this year alone. However, we recognise the pressures currently impacting the sector, which is why we launched the joint Framework for Sustainability and Success of Scotland’s Universities last month to explore options for securing its successful and sustainable future.”