THE Scottish Government's flagship policy of free tuition for Scottish university students has helped cement social inequalities, experts have warned.

Academics from Edinburgh University said there was no evidence free tuition had increased access to higher education for pupils from the poorest backgrounds.

And they concluded that public investment would be better targeted at raising attainment in schools in the most deprived areas of Scotland - with a graduate tax one way of raising additional funds for the university sector.

The conclusions, brought together in a new book entitled Higher Education in Scotland and the UK, are a public challenge to the Scottish Government's support for free university tuition.

Former First Minister Alex Salmond made free tuition a bedrock of his administration - even going so far as to erect a monument to the policy at Heriot-Watt University, in Edinburgh.

Successive SNP education ministers have argued that free tuition means a university education is "based on the ability to learn, not the ability to pay".

However, in her concluding chapter to the book Professor Sheila Riddell, from Edinburgh University's Moray House School of Education, argues that the policy has not been given sufficient scrutiny.

She said: "Despite political rhetoric surrounding free higher education in Scotland, the system has failed to produce more egalitarian outcomes compared with the rest of the UK.

"Universities in Scotland have flourished over the past decade, but the fact that they have been prioritised for funding over schools and colleges has had some unwelcome consequences in terms of reproducing existing social inequalities."

Mrs Riddell said the most important factor affecting the success of students from different social classes was their attainment at school, but highlighted the fact that councils are having to cut school budgets at a time when university teaching grants have been given relative protection.

She added: "There is strong evidence to suggest that if Scotland wishes to improve university participation by students from the poorest backgrounds, the most effective way of doing this is to target resources on schools in the most deprived neighbourhoods. This may call for a re-examination of funding priorities across the entire education sector."

"A progressive graduate tax, as well as means-tested student support, might be a more effective way of promoting social equality in higher education. However, this would involve greater critical scrutiny of universal free higher education and..... this has not been encouraged."

However, Vonnie Sandlan, president of student body NUS Scotland, said the preservation of free university education was vital.

She said: "While free education isn’t an end in itself to achieving fair access, it’s one important part of getting there.

"The idea that abolishing free education – a clear recognition of the public and social good provided by higher education – would improve fair access seems bizarre.

"We recognise, however, that free education can’t just be about the price tag, and we need to ensure the necessary financial support is available to keep students in education."

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said young people from deprived areas in Scotland were now more likely to participate in higher education by the age of 30 than they were in 2006/07.

She added: "Our commitment to free tuition, the prospect of the lowest average debt and the best graduate prospects in the UK saw a record number of Scots accepted to study at Scottish universities in 2015/16.

"But we recognise there is more to do to engage all children and young people in education and improve literacy. That’s why we launched the Scottish Attainment Challenge, backed by the £100m Attainment Scotland Fund.

"We have been very clear that we want every child, whatever their background, to have an equal chance of benefitting from higher education if that is their choice."

The Scottish Government has also set up a new commission on widening access which published its interim report last month.