Policy responses and statements
- Name of organisation:
- Scottish Executive Enterprise, Transport & Lifelong Learning Department: Higher Education and Science Division
- Name of policy document:
- Consultation on The Draft Student Fees (Specification) (Scotland) Order 2005
- Deadline for response:
- 26 January 2006
Background: Comments were invited on the consultation on the draft Student Fees (Specification) (Scotland) Order 2005. This draft order covers the proposals to increase tuition fees for higher education courses for 2006/07. The Deputy First Minister announced these proposals on 20 July 2005.
The proposals covered in the draft order are:
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To set the tuition fee for new entrants to non-medical degree and initial teacher education courses at £1,700.
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To set the tuition fee for new entrants to medical courses at £2,700.
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To set the tuition fee for new entrants to all other undergraduate courses at £1,200.
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To set the tuition fee for existing students on all undergraduate and initial teacher education courses at £1,200.
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To make provision to increase fees in subsequent years at the rate of inflation.
The draft fee order covers fee levels for EU domiciled students. If the order is passed, those students eligible for fee support from the Student Awards Agency for Scotland ( SAAS) under the current arrangements would continue to have their fees paid. Those Scots and non-UK EU domiciled students who are not currently eligible for fee support from SAAS would pay a maximum of £1,200 under new arrangements with the remainder paid by SAAS. This is not covered in the draft order as SAAS fee support is covered separately in the regulations covering student support.
The order covers fees for all undergraduate courses. The proposal for courses at sub-degree level, such as HNC/D courses, is to set the fee for all students at £1,200 for 2006/07. This is an increase in line with inflation. Similarly, the proposed fee level for existing students will be set at £1,200 for 2006/07. Students accepted for entry in 2005/06 who chose to defer for a year and those transferring from another institution anywhere in the UK will be treated as existing students in 2006/07 under these proposals. In future years, those transferring from an institution elsewhere in the UK will be charged at the Scottish level irrespective of the fee charged at their previous institution.
COMMENTS ON
SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE ENTERPRISE,
TRANSPORT & LIFELONG LEARNING
DEPARTMENT: HIGHER EDUCATION AND
SCIENCE DIVISION CONSULTATION ON
THE DRAFT STUDENT FEES (SPECIFICATION) (
SCOTLAND) ORDER 2005
The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh is pleased to respond to the Scottish Executive on its consultation on The Draft Student Fees (Specification) (Scotland) Order 2005.
The College recognises the broad justification for increasing the fees payable by students at HEIs in Scotland in response to the proposed “top up fees” option for HEIs in England. The Scottish Executive is raising fees to levels which will maintain a clear differential for most courses and continue to make Scotland an attractive place to study for academic and economic reasons. However, the College has significant concerns about the specific justification for the much higher proposed increase in medical school fees.
Scottish Medical Schools are long established educational providers with an international reputation for their academic excellence. Academic excellence depends on being able to attract the highest quality applicants which, in turn, promotes excellence in the postgraduates, researchers and faculty, thus ensuring the future academic standards of the medical schools. Students are drawn from outwith Scotland because of this excellence, hence the current high applicant to capacity ratio cited in the consultation. Both Scottish medicine and “Scotland plc” benefit from this effect, and the College strongly urges the Executive to ensure that this is preserved.
It is far from clear that the proposed fee change would change the national balance of students accepted into Scottish Medical Schools, although it will be likely to distort the economic diversity of applicants from outside Scotland by decreasing the number of applicants from lower socio-economic groups. This is highly undesirable, particularly at a time that medicine is being criticised for not selecting enough such candidates and, indeed, medical schools in Scotland are investing in programmes to increase applicants from lower socio-economic groups.
The concern about a reduction in the number of Scots achieving places in Scottish Medical Schools, due to additional competition from likely higher numbers of applicants from England, is understandable. However, academic standards must be protected through fair and equitable acceptance procedures rather than through economic barriers. Similarly, if Scotland wishes to retain young doctors after graduation, then greater efforts should be put into optimising and advertising the already high standards of postgraduate training and improving the working conditions for doctors, to allow Scotland to be competitive in the global market for high quality doctors.
The College seeks to protect and improve the standards of medical practice, and therefore would support medical school recruitment that encourages applicants with appropriate ability and aptitude from diverse backgrounds. Economic measures to distort this strategy risk damaging the standard of applicant and the reputation of Scottish Medical Schools and should be considered carefully. There may be a case for raising the fees overall to maintain the differential with England, but the additional fee for medical students brings potential harm to Scottish Medicine.
Copies of this response are available from:
Lesley Lockhart,
Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh,
9 Queen Street,
Edinburgh,
EH2 1JQ.
Tel: 0131 225 7324 ext 608
Fax: 0131 220 3939
[25 January 2006] |
