Cross-border Students
Good morning. The first item of business is a statement by Jim Wallace on future arrangements for cross-border students. The minister will take questions at the end of his statement. There should be no interventions.
I would like to make a statement on cross-border student issues arising from the proposed implementation of variable fees in England from the academic year 2006-07.
The Executive led the way in upholding the principle of free university tuition. I am immensely proud that we abolished tuition fees for eligible full-time Scottish and European Union students in Scotland as one of our first acts.
Before I explain the future arrangements for cross-border students starting courses from 2006, I confirm that the threshold for repayment of income-contingent student loans will increase to £15,000 from April 2005. Loans will be repaid at the same rate—9 per cent of income above the threshold—and that will apply to all student loan borrowers who are supported under the current loan system, which was introduced in 1998-99, including those who are already in repayment.
I turn now to the subject of today's statement, which is one that we were asked to address by both the Enterprise and Culture Committee's Scottish solutions report and our own phase 3 higher education review. Two related issues emerged from those inquiries. First, how should Scottish students be assisted with the costs of higher fees in England from 2006? Secondly, could higher fees south of the border stimulate more students from elsewhere in the United Kingdom to apply for places at Scottish higher education institutions?
When I addressed the chamber in March, after publication of our phase 3 higher education review, I made it clear that our absolute priority would be to ensure that Scotland-domiciled students are not disadvantaged as a result of Westminster's proposals. At that time, I also gave an undertaking to inform Parliament of our response to the phase 3 review before the autumn. Further announcements affecting the sector will follow the spending review later in the summer. However, today I am announcing two sets of related changes that will protect Scotland-domiciled students wherever they choose to study and which will take effect from 2006-07.
The first deals with the position of students from Scotland who wish to study in England. Following the changes that the United Kingdom Government is proposing, from 2006-07 Scottish students who go to England will have to pay any variable fees associated with the courses that they choose to study. I can announce today that the Executive will provide those students with a subsidised student loan to cover their whole tuition fee cost up to £3,000 a year.
We are conscious that providing support for fees and living costs in the form of a student loan will mean that some Scots studying in England will risk building up high levels of debt. To reduce that risk, we will also be greatly improving the bursaries that are available to that group. Currently, bursaries stand at just over £500. We will replace up to £2,000 of the student loan for living costs with a means-tested bursary. Students whose parents earn up to £20,000 or whose spouse earns up to £18,000 will receive the maximum bursary, and some bursary will still be available up to income of around £30,000.
This is the best possible package of measures that the Executive can put in place for Scottish students for whom study in England is the preferred choice. Because of European law constraints, we cannot entirely shelter that group from the changes in England. As many will already be aware, if we were to pay the fees for those Scottish students, we would also have to pay the fees for every European Union student at an English university. However, with full loans for fees and better bursaries, we are ensuring that the healthy flow of Scots into universities elsewhere in the United Kingdom can continue.
That takes me to the second element of the package that is being announced today. Non-Scots UK students who choose to study here are already asked to pay a fee of £1,125 per year. With the usual uplifts for inflation, that figure would stand at about £1,200 in 2006-07, so courses in Scotland could become a much cheaper alternative, and so the pressure on places here could increase significantly, to the detriment of Scottish applicants. Early indications, such as this year's 12 per cent increase in applications from UK students to study in Scotland, highlight clearly the risk that we face if we do nothing. I am absolutely clear that doing nothing is not an option.
Of course, the issue is difficult. Tough choices have had to be made, and I can assure members that the decisions that have been taken have not been arrived at lightly. In our deliberations, I have never lost sight of the fact that my first responsibility is to protect the interests of Scotland-domiciled students. My Cabinet colleagues and I have discounted quotas in our universities based on domicile—indeed, I am not aware of any serious advocates of that approach—so the obvious and sensible alternative is to bring the cost of study for non-Scottish UK students closer to what they will be charged elsewhere.
The chamber should be in absolutely no doubt that the change that we are proposing will not affect those eligible Scottish and European Union students who study full time in Scotland and who presently face no tuition fee. All those students who have benefited from our abolition of fees in Scotland will continue to benefit from it. Absolutely nothing will change for that group of students. Because of the changes made by this Executive, they will continue to pay absolutely nothing for their tuition.
However, from 2006 we will increase the current flat-rate fee payable by other full-time students—mainly those from elsewhere in the United Kingdom—by more than inflation. By how much will depend on the final decisions taken in England. With different English universities able to charge different fees for different courses—anything from zero to £3,000 per annum—offset by a potentially complicated range of institutional bursaries, the final position south of the border will not be clear until at least the end of the year. That makes it impossible for ministers to determine precisely what increase we will put in place, but I want to give members a clear indication of the fee range that we are considering.
We will be guided by certain clear principles. For example, there is no desire to make the overall fee cost of four-year courses in Scotland more expensive than the cost of three-year courses in England. We will take that into account in setting the level of fee. We have no desire to make the overall cost of Scottish universities more expensive than the cost of their English counterparts. However, the new fee should be sufficiently high to influence demand. At this stage, our best estimate is that we will raise the existing annual flat-rate fee by between around £500 and £700, so that the overall figure in 2006-07 will be in the range of £1,700 to £1,900. For the benefit of members, a fuller document explaining the proposals in more detail has been placed in the Scottish Parliament information centre.
I take this opportunity to set out some of the main points that flow from this announcement. As I have said, there is absolutely no question of individual institutions being able to set their own fees. There will continue to be a national flat-rate figure. We do not want the changes to affect part-time students who have to pay their own tuition fees, so only full-timers will be affected. We do not want the changes to affect any students who began their courses before 2006-07, so only students who begin in or after 2006-07 will be affected. Neither will the changes impact on overseas students who are already subject to separate, full-cost fee arrangements. We will consider over the coming months whether there are other categories of student from among those who are currently self-funded who might need to be sheltered from the changes.
We would not go down this route if it created a counterproductive incentive for individual institutions to recruit students from other parts of the United Kingdom. To avoid that, we will be rebalancing the existing funding streams to institutions through the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council and the Student Awards Agency for Scotland, so that where a student comes from will continue to be irrelevant to institutions in respect of the package of funding that they receive. We will work with Universities Scotland to ensure that the changes to underlying funding streams are made in a transparent way, so that the sector can be confident that the overall resources that are available to it for teaching are not being reduced.
Under the current Quigley agreement, the Executive pays for the fourth-year fees of eligible non-Scotland-domiciled UK students to remove the possible disincentive of an extra year's worth of fees for those students. I now propose to abolish the Quigley arrangement for students who start a course from 2006-07. However, the principle underlying Quigley is an important one, and we will factor in the fee cost for the extra year of study in Scotland when fixing the new fee level.
One other issue that we wish to examine was raised in the Calman report, which was published earlier this month, and in the evidence of the British Medical Association to the Enterprise and Culture Committee's inquiry. Professor Calman highlighted the fact that around half of our medical students already come from outwith Scotland. He noted that the changes in fee levels in England might make the difficulty of recruiting sufficient numbers of graduates to the national health service in Scotland worse. Therefore, as part of the consideration of the implementation of the changes, we will examine the case for setting—exceptionally—a separate, higher flat-rate fee for medicine.
The two changes that I am announcing today are closely linked, because helping Scottish students with the higher fees that they will be charged by English universities will carry a cost for the Scottish budget. Therefore, as a critical component of the package, we intend to ensure that the first call on the extra revenue that is generated by increasing the fee levels for non-Scots who come here will be on meeting that extra cost. I have agreed with my Cabinet colleagues that any surplus over and above what is needed for that purpose will become a pooled resource for the Scottish higher education sector as a whole.
Today, my officials are writing to the main organisations that represent students, universities and colleges with an invitation to join an implementation group, together with the funding councils and SAAS. I will ask the group to examine the detailed issues, including administrative issues and the potential for categories of students to be exempt, with the aim of such points being resolved by the end of the year at the latest.
The decisions have not been easy, but I firmly believe that they are the right way forward in the management of cross-border student flows following the changes that we expect in England in two years' time. I believe that the package is a balanced and measured response that unashamedly puts Scotland-domiciled students at its heart, protecting their opportunities and safeguarding their choices, and I commend it to the Parliament.
Mr Wallace will take questions on the issues raised in his statement. I will allow about 20 minutes.
I thank the minister for his courtesy in providing an advance copy of the statement. I welcome the changes that are on offer but I have some questions. I am disappointed that the minister perpetuates the myth that the charging of fees to students has been abolished. In reality, whether he calls it an endowment or whatever, students are charged to go to university.
On the detail of the minister's statement, I welcome the fact that he is to address the difficulty with medical schools in Scotland. I look forward to hearing detail on the level of charge that will protect the national health service in Scotland.
I am a little concerned about the minister's suggested flat-rate fee for UK students who are not Scotland-domiciled. The figures show that the bulk of such students are, obviously, from England and that they attend a limited number of our higher education institutions. Although many of them come here as their first choice, some come here as their second choice. If Oxford and Cambridge charge £3,000 per year and Edinburgh, St Andrews, Aberdeen or Glasgow charge £500 per year, there will not be sufficient disincentive, which will cause access to places for Scotland-domiciled students on courses in Scotland to be squeezed. Will the minister assure us that there will not be an even higher level of applications from disappointed students from England who cannot get into their universities of choice south of the border and who then squeeze out Scotland-domiciled students?
I am grateful to Mr Adam for the general welcome that he has given to the proposals. I reiterate the fact that tuition is free for Scotland-domiciled students who attend Scottish HEIs for their first degree. Mr Adam will recall that, as a result of an act of this Parliament, the graduate endowment is ring fenced for support for future generations of students.
I take Mr Adam's point about cross-border flows of English students to Scottish universities—that concern was flagged up by the Enterprise and Culture Committee as well as by our phase 3 review and is one of the key drivers for my announcement today. I might have misunderstood Mr Adam's question, or he might have misunderstood what I said, but it is not a question of Edinburgh or St Andrews charging £500 as opposed to Oxbridge charging £3,000. I said that the increase would be in the range of £500 to £700, so the likely charge will be somewhere between £1,700 and £1,900, but we must wait until we have a better picture of what is happening south of the border. It is unlikely that every university will charge £3,000 for every course, but we must wait and see what picture emerges. That is why I cannot give an exact figure. Also, as I said, we have to factor in the fact that there are four-year degree courses in Scotland. I do not believe that charging the full £3,000 would be the right thing to do.
When we set the fee level, we will take into account the factors that I have mentioned. I assure Mr Adam that one of our considerations will be the fact that although we do not want a substantial increase in the number of students from outwith Scotland, it is equally important for our universities to have students from other parts of the United Kingdom and we do not want to cut off that flow. That is the challenge that we have. The matter is inexact, but the best evidence that we have suggests that we should pitch the fee at a level that allows the cross-border flows that have benefited our universities but which does not lead to Scottish students being denied places because of an excessive number of students coming from south of the border.
I welcome the Deputy First Minister's statement and I am obliged to him for providing me with an advance copy. As he knows, we have been pressing for answers to the issues for some time and we were told that we would get them in early summer. It does not feel like early summer today, but technically I think that it is.
I welcome the Deputy First Minister's attempt to address the serious issues, which are, I accept, not of the Scottish Executive's making. However, I fear that the solution that is being proposed today might create more problems than it solves. I have four questions to put to the Deputy First Minister.
First, the Executive proposes to subsidise the student loans that are provided to Scottish students who go to English universities to pay their fees. Does the Deputy First Minister accept that, in effect, Scottish taxpayers will subsidise English universities? Does he accept that Scottish universities will find it bizarre that money will go from the Scottish budget into the coffers of English universities even though the Scottish sector already faces disadvantage due to the additional income scheme that is being created for their competitor institutions south of the border, with all the implications that it has?
Secondly, on the converse situation, as there will be a fixed fee in Scotland but variable fees south of the border, does the Deputy First Minister accept that in some cases Scottish universities might be more expensive than their English counterparts? Does he accept that there will therefore be a disincentive for English students to come to some Scottish institutions, perhaps those lower down the scale?
Thirdly, English students who come to Scottish universities will, uniquely, have to pay higher fees than Scottish or EU students. Only the English students in a lecture room will pay the higher level of fees. What message does the Deputy First Minister think that that sends to students in England about Scotland as a place to study? Is not the message entirely at odds with the strategy, outlined in the fresh talent initiative, to encourage talented young people from outwith Scotland to study here and to stay on after they have graduated?
Finally, is it not the case that the problems that the Executive is struggling with have been caused entirely by the UK Labour Government forcing through an unpopular policy without considering its likely impact on Scotland? Is it not the case that the only solution to the problem is to scrap top-up fees in England? That will be delivered only by the return of a Conservative Government.
Mr Fraser makes a number of points and I have great pleasure in responding to them. I thank him for the welcome—albeit heavily qualified—that he gave to the statement.
His first point, on Scottish taxpayers subsidising English institutions, is a rather curious point to come from a Conservative and a unionist. One might argue that we get the block grant from British taxpayers' money. It is also fair to point out that the first call on the flat-rate fee that we will charge students who come from other parts of the UK will be to fund the subsidised loan. It is expected that there will be a surplus—its size will depend on the level at which we set the fee—which will be a pooled resource for Scottish HEIs. If anything, the net result of the announcement will be more income flowing into Scotland's universities.
Murdo Fraser's second point was on the fact that England will have variable fees and Scotland will have a fixed fee. We have indicated that we do not support the idea of variable fees. There is a possible exception with regard to medical degrees, on which we want to take soundings for good reasons of wanting to protect the national health service in Scotland, but I believe that it would be hugely bureaucratic to try to establish variable fees for different courses at different institutions in Scotland. One of the reasons why I cannot announce the exact amount of the fee today is that, when we come to set the fee, we want to take into account what is happening in the English universities. Some courses may well be more expensive in Scotland than they are in England and, of course, other courses may well be less expensive. However, we will consider the broad picture before setting the fee.
I do not think that the situation will necessarily lead to English students not wanting to come to Scotland. Murdo Fraser makes the point that if an English student was sitting next to a Scottish student in the University of Edinburgh, one of them would be paying a fee and one would not be. That is the position at present and, given that there has been a 12 per cent increase in applications from English students this year, it does not seem to have put them off.
One way of resolving the issue would be for the UK Government to follow the example of the Scottish Parliament and abolish tuition fees. That is a matter for the UK Government. I emphasise the fact that the UK Government respects the devolved arrangement. It respects the Scottish Parliament's right to take the decisions that we want to take and we must respect its right to take the decisions that it wants to take. Of course, we can have a political debate about those decisions, but I note that the Scottish Conservatives in Westminster did not oppose the introduction of tuition fees—
There is only one of them in Westminster.
Admittedly, there is only one member of the Scottish Conservatives in Westminster. The entire membership of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party in Westminster did not oppose the introduction of tuition fees.
We must respect the responsibility that the UK Government has to pass legislation—bearing in mind the fact that Scottish members have the opportunity to contribute to that process—just as Charles Clarke has confirmed to me that he accepts that the Scottish Parliament has the right to determine what we do in Scotland.
I welcome the Deputy First Minister's confirmation that the threshold for repayment of the graduate endowment is to rise.
Earlier, the Deputy First Minister referred to decisions made by Westminster. Can he confirm that appropriate consultation took place between the Scottish Executive and the Department for Education and Skills before this decision was made, as consultation was an important issue that was raised in the committee report?
Does the minister agree that, while the proposals outlined today are part of the solution to the problems created by England's introduction of top-up fees, the major way of resolving the issues would be to find ways of putting extra resources into our universities to create a level playing field? Does he agree that that would resolve some of the issues relating to cross-border flows of students?
Richard Baker said that the threshold for the repayment of the graduate endowment will increase. To be clear, the situation is that the graduate endowment is immediately payable on the April after graduation but can be added to the amount of the loan. Therefore, the threshold is rising to £15,000 for the entire loan.
I can assure Richard Baker that there is a dialogue between the Department for Education and Skills and the Scottish Executive. I know that consultation was an issue that caused the committee some concern with regard to the publication of the white paper south of the border in February 2003. I put on record, as I have in the past, the fact that, since taking responsibility for lifelong learning in Scotland, I have had regular meetings with Charles Clarke and regular conversations with Alan Johnson at the Department for Education and Skills and know that they are aware of what we are doing. As I indicated to Murdo Fraser, that department recognises and accepts that we have responsibilities to make Scottish decisions and—to borrow the title of the Enterprise and Culture Committee's report—to find Scottish solutions.
On extra resources, I make it clear that the reason for the proposals in my statement is to protect the interests of Scottish students, not to raise additional revenue for Scottish higher education institutions. However, as I have indicated, that is a possible outcome, and any money that is left after we have paid for Scottish students studying south of the border will be a pooled resource for Scottish higher education institutions. The First Minister and I have already indicated that we recognise the importance of maintaining Scottish higher education's competitive edge and it will be given extra resources in the spending review. The full details of that must await Mr Kerr's announcement of the spending review after the summer recess.
I thank the minister for his important and full statement. The minister has faced difficult issues and has taken tough decisions. It is interesting to contrast that with the lack of any concrete proposals from the Scottish National Party or the Tories. From Brian Adam, we heard the old myth that tuition fees have not been abolished—in fact, they have—and, from Murdo Fraser, we heard about the weather.
I am glad that the minister mentioned medical students. As the future of the NHS is a matter of concern to many of us in Scotland, can the minister assure me that he will work closely with Malcolm Chisholm and his officials in examining the funding and handling of that important issue in Scotland?
It is fair to say that, in trying to find a way forward in the situation in which we find ourselves, we have not exactly been inundated with ideas from other parties in the way that we sometimes are. Nevertheless, I think that we have struck the right balance.
The Calman report and the BMA's evidence to the Enterprise and Culture Committee flagged up the issue of medical students and our phase 3 review raised related issues. In the interests of the Scottish health service, it is important that we have an adequate flow of medical students graduating into the Scottish NHS. That is why we want to consider the issue further with key stakeholders. If setting a different fee for medical courses is what it takes to ensure that we have an adequate flow, I am sure that the Cabinet would not flinch from that decision.
I welcome the fact that the Scottish Executive is taking action in response to the issues raised in the Scottish solutions report. Given that the effect of English top-up fees on the flow of students to Scotland is unclear, that not all decisions about where to go to university are based on financial factors and that not all English higher education institutions will charge a full fee, will the Executive reconsider the conditions contained in the statement if there is no significant change in student numbers coming to Scotland from other parts of the UK?
Also, does the minister agree that it should be a priority that no student, whether originally domiciled in Scotland or in any other part of the UK, should leave a Scottish university with an overwhelming burden of debt?
As Murdo Fraser acknowledged when he asked his question, we have been under some pressure to make a statement on this matter in the early summer—I note that I share Murdo Fraser's concerns about whether a day such as today constitutes summer. Nevertheless, I do not think that we could have delayed making this statement much longer, for the extremely practical reason that the proposals would come into effect from the academic year starting in 2006, and Scottish students who have just completed their highers will be filling in their Universities and Colleges Admissions Service forms when they go back to school after the summer break this year and will have to decide whether they want to start university in 2005 or take a gap year, which would mean that they would start university in 2006. We want to give those people a degree of certainty about what the likely effect of choosing to have a gap year will be.
I have given an indication of the likely fee within a fairly narrow band of £1,700 to £1,900. The reason why I cannot be more exact is the very one to which Mark Ballard refers: we cannot be sure how the English higher education institutions will react. However, I would be extremely surprised if, after they have gone through everything that they have, the status quo were to remain. Of course, the picture that emerges from England will be an important factor when we fix the level of the fee in Scotland.
I welcome the increase in the threshold for the repayment of the student loan, but point out that it is still about £10,000 below the threshold for repayment of the endowment that there would have been if the Cubie recommendations had been fully implemented.
Secondly, there is the issue of qualification for bursaries. These days, a parental income of £20,000 is not a lot of money in comparison with the average national wage. Will the minister reconsider the qualification for bursary entitlement? Many people in relatively low-income or middle-income households are suffering as a result of the measures and are not qualifying for the bursary.
My third point is about demand from students south of the border to come to Scotland. Like the minister, I welcome a mix of all nationalities in all our universities. However, the reality is that approximately 40 per cent of them come to the University of Edinburgh and another 20 per cent come to the University of St Andrews. We need to consider the pressure for places on individual institutions and courses in Scotland. Will the minister discuss with the universities how that problem can be addressed?
I am grateful that Alex Neil welcomes the increase in the threshold for repayment. Although it is £10,000 lower than Cubie recommended, I explained that to set a separate threshold for that repayment would have involved a considerable administrative cost because of the differential. We would have received considerable and legitimate criticism if a substantial part of the funds raised by the graduate endowment, which are intended to help students from lower-income families, had been creamed off for administration. At least the system that we have will ensure that money goes to help students from lower-income families who will benefit from student support.
I hear what Alex Neil says about qualification or eligibility levels for bursaries. I indicated that there would be continuing eligibility for some amount of bursary right up to income of approximately £30,000. Given that the current bursary to assist students who go to live south of the border is something of the order of £520, I am sure that even Alex Neil will accept that increasing that maximum bursary to £2,000 is a significant improvement.
On Alex Neil's final point, I am regularly in dialogue with university principals but I make it clear that my proposals are institution neutral. There is nothing in today's announcement that should encourage a particular university in Scotland to go after students from other parts of the United Kingdom. I hear what Alex Neil says and the issues can be discussed, but it is important that we maintain the principle that there should be one fee for every institution and that none of the new arrangements should give an incentive or a disincentive to institutions to go after students from south of the border.
I welcome the minister's statement and I am glad that every party here has done so. I notice that the Scottish Socialist Party is not represented; its members obviously do not care.
The minister knows that I have taken a particular interest in the college sector and its role in delivering "A Smart, Successful Scotland". Although the minister's statement is aimed at the universities, there are implications for colleges, especially for courses with articulation arrangements with universities. Tomorrow, I am to address a conference organised by the Association of Scottish Colleges. What message would the minister like me to take to the colleges so that they can identify their role and participate in the process?
Christine May raises a fair point. Nothing like the same number of students from outwith Scotland have applied for higher education courses at further education colleges, but I acknowledge that what I have announced today applies only to HEIs. I will ask the implementation group that I am establishing to consider several of the issues that arise out of my statement and to consider the specific issue of students coming from other parts of the UK to study higher education courses at Scottish FE colleges. The implementation group will be required to consider that issue as well as the issues that can sometimes arise from students who are articulating from higher education courses in FE colleges and going on to do degree courses at higher education institutions. Students can sometimes slip between the gap and the implementation group will have to consider other possible categories of exemption.
Sadly, I cannot welcome receipt of the ministerial statement because, although I represent a party, I did not receive a copy of it. There are also three independent members and it should be within the minister's ability to give the four of us sight of a statement before he gets up to make it.
Tuition fees might have been abolished, but tell that to the parents who are being means tested to pay for their children's studies. Has the Executive ever considered the fact that means testing is prevalent throughout the country? Pensioners get means tested. The only people who do not get means tested are convicted criminals. If it is looking for a source of income, why does the Executive not means test all the criminals in the country and, if one of them owns a big house, do what it does with the pensioners: sell their home to pay for their incarceration? That would bring an awful lot of money into the country's coffers.
I am not sure whether John Swinburne is implying that I should make comparisons between the University of Edinburgh and HMP Barlinnie. The comparison is highly inappropriate and I am not quite sure of the relevance of Mr Swinburne's question.
Such means testing as there is is not for fees. Fees for eligible Scottish students attending Scottish universities are paid regardless of parental income. The means test is for the bursary, which this Administration introduced to help those who might otherwise be deterred from accessing higher education.
I would like to expand on Christine May's question and the minister's answer. He is right to say that although a lot of higher education in Scotland is undertaken in further education institutions, there is not a lot of evidence that cross-border flows are involved—except for at the border. I am thinking of movement from Dumfries to Carlisle and vice versa, as well as in similar places on the eastern side of the country. Any possibility of movement as a result of the English changes could cause movement from the higher education sector to the further education sector. Will the minister reassure us that he will not only consider the matter in the global Scottish sense, but will consider the possible effect on areas close to the English border?
I will ensure that Alasdair Morgan's fair point is drawn to the attention of the implementation group.
Why should English students pay more than EU students to come to Scottish universities? Is that not a form of discrimination that is difficult for an enlightened Administration to justify?
I am grateful to Lord James for describing our Administration as enlightened—and rightly so. However, it is also an Administration that obeys the law and which is constrained by the terms of the Scotland Act 1998, which means that we must act within vires and must observe EU law. English students pay more to come to Scottish universities than EU students because we are obliged to follow EU law, which says that if we make something available to Scottish students in Scotland, it must be made available to other EU students. However, that does not apply to other students from within the member state.
I have a question about students taking up courses in 2005-2006, or indeed those who are already doing courses in English universities. I understand that top-up fees will be introduced in England from 2006 for courses that begin then. Will Scottish students who are currently on courses or who are about to take up courses next October be similarly protected, especially as the issue affects the Scottish budget?
Yes. The existing arrangements will continue for those who start courses before 2006, so I can give Des McNulty that assurance. The change in the repayment threshold will come into effect from April next year but that will not affect students who are going to start within the next two years. Until 2006-07, the existing arrangements will stay in place.