Independent review of student support

Responding to the publication of the report from the independent review into student support, Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science, Shirley-Anne Somerville, said:

“This Government is investing a record amount in student support. Scottish students benefit from free tuition across colleges and universities and have the lowest average student loan debt in the UK.  Further education students have access to the UK’s most generous bursary.  

“We have already committed to raising the repayment threshold for student loans and reducing the repayment period to 30 years.

“But we want to make sure that all students, especially those in our most deprived communities, are provided with the financial support they need to succeed.

“That is why we commissioned this independent review of student support and I would like to thank Jayne-Anne Gadhia and the members of the Review Board for all their work on this over the last year.

“The report sets out a number of recommendations that would fundamentally change the way students in Scotland are supported financially. It is only right that we now take the time to consider these recommendations in detail - and as part of current and future Budget processes. We will set out our next steps in due course.”

Background

View the final report from the independent review of student support in Scotland on the Scottish Government website.

The remit for the review was to “assess the effectiveness of the system of support for all students engaged in further and higher education in Scotland, and make recommendations for beneficial change”.

The remit also asked that the review group acknowledge the constraints on public funding and make connections with relevant policy development in other areas (e.g. the expansion of child-care provision).