Edinburgh raises fees to £9,000

The University of Edinburgh has become the latest in Scotland to announce increased fees for students coming from the rest of the UK.

The university will charge students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland £9,000 a year from the next academic year.

It follows a decision last month at the University of Aberdeen to set the rate at £9,000 a year, with a fourth year free.

Iain Diamond, principal of the University of Aberdeen, said last month that maintaining fees at the current level – about £1,800 a year for most degrees – was no longer possible.

Scottish Education Secretary Michael Russell said in June that universities will be able to increase fees.

It was prompted by the UK Government’s decision to raise the cap on fees south of the border.

Mary Bownes, vice principal for eternal engagement at Edinburgh University, said: “The increase in the fee is necessary as we will no longer receive Government funding for RUK (rest of the UK) domiciled students.

“These students will be studying at one of the world’s top teaching and research institutions, regularly ranked among the leading universities in the world. Their educational experience is also enhanced by the university’s location in the historic Scottish capital – a Unesco World Heritage Site – and by the cosmopolitan nature of the university, which provides a learning environment for students from more than 130 countries.”

She said a “generous” bursary package would be introduced for RUK students on the lowest household incomes. More than 50 per cent of additional tuition fee income will go towards bursaries with the remainder “going towards enhancing the student experience”.

There will also be a new internally funded scheme for access and accommodation bursaries for Scottish domiciled students.

RUK domiciled students from the most economically disadvantaged backgrounds who study a four-year degree will be eligible for a bursary of up to £28,000 and will also be eligible to apply for access awards of up to £5,000.

Dai Hounsell, vice principal for academic enhancement, said: “The four-year degree system in Scotland continues to offer greater flexibility in the way students can study and much greater breadth in what they study. We will enhance the ability of students to enter our degree courses in year two.”

The SNP Scottish Government was elected on a pledge that it would not introduce fees or graduate contributions for students who live in Scotland.

Matthew McPherson, president of Edinburgh University Students’ Association, said: “There is a damaging race to the top taking place in Scotland as universities believe they are holding up face and prestige by setting higher fee levels, but they are wrong.

“The prestige of Scotland’s higher education sector is based on the quality of its provision, not on the size of its charge.

“It is not the job of universities to generate their own income from students from the rest of the UK, so instead of doing it they should reject it, and recognise that by endorsing this policy we will all be back in this position in one or two years’ time.”