Scotland: SNP's cut to university places will worsen skills shortage

Publication Source

1. Universities Scotland: SNP urged to probe impact of cap on Scottish student numbers | Scotsman

2. Professor James A Miller: Scotland's model for funding university places is broken | The Times

3. Foreign students more likely than Scots to be offered place at top universities | Telegraph

4. Edinburgh and St Andrews universities more likely to offer places to foreign students | Scotsman

5. Scottish Government's international education blueprint fails to address risks of over exposure | Scotsman

Humza Yousaf’s cut to the number of university places for Scottish students will make skills shortages worse and cause long-term economic damage, ministers have been warned.

The number of funded places is being trimmed by at least 1,200 this year because of reductions to the further education budget.

Shona Robison, the deputy first minister, has said the government could not afford to keep paying for the additional places it had created during the pandemic.

There are widespread concerns about how businesses can retain and attract workers because of diverging income tax rates. Anyone in Scotland who earns more than £28,850 a year pays more tax than elsewhere in the UK, with the gap growing as salaries increase.