A RECORD number of Scots are going to university in Scotland but the number of EU students has plummeted by 10 per cent, according to the latest figures from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas).
This year 34,830 applicants living in Scotland were accepted for a place at a Scottish university, an increase of more than 1000, or three per cent. Scottish students represented 70 per cent of all acceptances to universities in Scotland.
The number of English students accepted at Scottish universities also increased by 2.8 per cent to the highest figure on record while the 10 per cent shortfall in EU students was partly made up by the numbers of students from outwith the EU increasing by 4.3 per cent.
Although welcoming the increased number of Scottish students, further and higher education minister Shirley-Anne Somerville said she was concerned by the drop in EU students.
“Scottish universities pride themselves on their international student population, and this is clear evidence that Brexit is sending a negative message to EU students considering Scotland for their studies,” she said.
On the increase in Scottish students, she said: “This is testament to the excellent reputation of our universities, but also shows that more people are benefitting from access to tuition-free higher education. Not only is this encouraging our brightest and best to stay in Scotland to study, it is also giving more people the opportunity to go on to university by removing one of the most significant financial barriers.
“While this is encouraging, there is still much more work to do to widen access to university to students from Scotland’s most deprived areas — and this remains a key focus of the Scottish Government and the sector.”
John Kemp, interim chief executive of the Scottish Funding Council, said the organisation would continue to monitor the effects of Brexit on European students coming to Scotland. “Today’s figures show a record number of Scottish students going to Scottish universities,” he said. “They also show a welcome increase in the number of international students choosing to study at a Scottish university, underlining Scotland’s continuing global appeal in higher education.”
Ucas deals with only about three-quarters of undergraduate entrants to Scottish universities, as part-time and sub-degree courses do not go through the system. It also does not deal with applications to Scottish colleges, so its figures typically cover few than half of entrants to undergraduate-level higher education courses in Scotland overall.
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