We welcome the independent review of qualifications and assessment by Professor Hayward and have written to the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills to express our view on this review. Our response focuses on: the inclusion and equality of the report and how we see the addressing of the poverty related attainment gap as a…
Tag: Teaching, learning and quality
84% of Scottish graduates say going to university got them the job they wanted
Research from Universities Scotland highlights the value of going to university, including that: 84.5% of Scottish graduates credit their university with helping them gain employment 74% of Scottish graduates found a job reflective of their ambitions in under a year thanks to their degree 75% of business leaders believe going to university enables graduates to…
Increasing number of Scottish university students from deprived backgrounds requires a change in how deprivation is defined
Dr Kirsty Conlon, Head of Learning, Teaching and Widening Access has shared her thoughts in The Scotsman on the journey that Scottish universities will take to achieve the 2030 target of 20% of all students entering university will come from the nation’s 20% most deprived areas. She also outlines the challenges that will be faced…
Erasmus+ and the replacement schemes in place across the UK
We were given the opportunity to provide evidence to the Education, Children and Young People Committee on their inquiry into Erasmus+ and the replacement schemes in place across the UK. In our evidence we highlight: Scotland’s students, staff and universities would benefit significantly from the introduction of a two-way mobility scheme in Scotland, that would complement…
Submission to the Education, Children & Young People Committee Budget 2023 to 2024 session
Universities Scotland is extremely disappointed by the Scottish Government’s decision to withdraw £20 million of resource funding allocated to the higher education sector for financial year (FY) 2023/24 and to reverse aspects of the budget decision as supported by the Scottish Parliament in the Budget Bill (now Act) as passed on 21 February 2023.
£20m cut “extremely disappointing”
This afternoon (Tuesday 2 May), Principals of Scotland’s universities were informed by the Scottish Funding Council that the £20 million of additional resource funding allocated to the sector in December’s budget by the Scottish Government is now “not available for distribution and has been identified as a necessary saving”. Universities were told that Scottish Government…
AI in higher education – friend or foe?
The topic of Artifical Intelligence has been of huge interest in the early months of 2023. Our latest blog sees Abertay University Principal, Professor Liz Bacon, discuss the role AI could have in higher education reflecting on her decades of work in this area. With the disruption navigated by our universities during Covid-19 thankfully beginning to…
Students’ hopes, uncertainties and university support revealed to Minister on visit to Queen Margaret University
Students attending universities from across Edinburgh met the Minister for Higher and Further Education; and Minister for Veterans, Graeme Dey MSP, to share the range of challenges and opportunities they face as undergraduates, in a visit to Queen Margaret University Edinburgh on Thursday 20 April. Universities across Scotland offer active support to their students in…
Response to Scottish Funding Council indicative allocations
This afternoon (Thursday 13 April), the Scottish Funding Council published their Indicative university funding allocations AY 2023-24. This follows the passing of the Scottish Government Budget for 2023-24. Today’s indicative allocations set out the funding available to specific university grants for teaching, research and innovation and clarify the specific funding available to individual institutions for…
Students and skills: Doing Things Different and Better
Alastair Sim, Director of Universities Scotland has shared his thoughts on the skills landscape and the importance of the skills students learn while at university. Let’s re-set the skills policy agenda by appreciating students’ diversity and ambitions, and the breadth of universities’ contribution to that. I get huge inspiration from meeting students as I visit…