SCOTTISH universities have demanded a say on the future of tuition fees.
The call came after Prime Minister Theresa May launched a review of university funding, to be chaired by author and financier, Philip Augar.
Mrs May has ruled out scrapping tuition fees, but called for better value for students in England.
The review will have an impact here because Scottish universities charge fees to students from the rest of the UK (rUK), despite free tuition for Scots.
There are some 19,000 rUK undergraduates in Scotland paying up to £9,250 in fees a year.
A spokeswoman for Universities Scotland said: “The review relates to post-18 education and funding in England, but will undoubtedly have significant implications for Scotland’s universities.
“We intend to be closely engaged in the review and seek reassurances that there will be opportunities to be consulted.
“The fee income from rUK students is now an established part of the funding mix in Scottish higher education.”
The spokeswoman said universities wanted a “financially sustainable” way of attracting rUK students in future.
Announcing the year-long review of university funding, Mrs May said the system had failed to deliver sufficient competition, with almost all courses charged at the maximum.
The Prime Minister said students faced “one of the most expensive systems of university tuition in the world” with the level of fees charged “not relating to the cost or quality of the course”.
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