Rebecca Curran-Scarlett, Senior Policy & Information Officer at Lead Scotland shares the lived experience of disabled people in the university admissions process and why the Guarantee of Fairness and Guide for Disabled learners is so important in their application journey to university. In 2019, we launched a campaign to make access to university fairer for…
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Scotland’s universities still have another budget to contend with
With the UK Government’s budget now delivered, November sees a frenzied month of activity for the Scottish Government as it crunches numbers ahead of its own budget for 2025/26, to be announced on 4 December, writes Universities Scotland Director Claire McPherson. Spare a thought for Scotland’s universities, facing the prospect of all that pre-budget speculation…
Our 40 Faces campaign & reaffirming our commitment to widening access
This week, the Cabinet Secretary for Education Jenny Gilruth, the Commissioner for Fair Access and representatives from across higher education came together at a special event to celebrate Universities Scotland’s “40 Faces” campaign. Universities Scotland’s Senior Public Affairs and Communications Officer Lauren Wards explains why progress towards Scotland’s ambitious widening access target cannot be made…
The National Student Survey: Amplifying the Student Voice and Enhancing University Experiences in Scotland
Last month, the National Student Survey (NSS) results for 2024 were published. Looking at the data, Mark Wild, our Learning and Teaching Policy Officer outlines the importance of this survey and what students think about Scottish higher education. NSS results for 2024 were published in July and speak to the quality of Scottish university education….
Where Scottish students are studying – an overview of HESA’s 2022-23 student data
HESA’s student data release in August generated headlines around the balance of Scottish and international students. To get a solid sense of what’s happening with student numbers by domicile, we need to work across a couple of different data sets. HESA’s student data gives us a (recent) historical picture across all domiciles. The most recent…
Will Whitehorn: The importance of the graduate route to the UK
Published in The Times today, Will Whitehorn outlines the importance of the graduate route to the UK, determining that it should remain as it is. He highlights that the removal or reform of the graduate route would have a negative impact on university finances immediately, and a damaging impact on industry, on growth, on innovation…
International links: importance and strengthening of Scotland’s relationships
Ela Kossakowska, our Connected Scotland project officer, has written a blog about an event led by Connected Scotland with Scotland’s Universities International Group (SUIG), hosted at Scotland House in London, with the aim of building and strengthening Scotland’s international relationships. Connected Scotland and SUIG once again invited education and culture attaches and sponsors to Scotland…
We need a serious conversation on HE funding
Departing Universities Scotland after 15 years, Director Alastair Sim suggests there should be a serious conversation on funding that shares our national values, focusing on socially just solutions and holds common ground between the sector and government. As I leave Universities Scotland after 15 years as Director, I don’t want to focus on the past….
Joint Articulation: what is it and what are the priorities?
Last week, the Commissioner for Fair Access, Professor John H. McKendrick published his first annual report on widening access to HE. In it, he champions an alliance between colleges and universities as a means to achieving the access targets. Colleges and universities have been working closely together on progression routes at both national and regional…
A cheat’s guide to the Scottish Government’s budget and university funding
Susannah Lane, Head of Public Affairs has written a short blog detailing a guide on how universities in Scotland are funded and a breakdown of the Scottish Government budget, ahead of the budget for financial year 2024/25 on 19 December. Next week the Scottish Government will publish its budget for the financial year 2024/25. By…