Chamber and committees

Thank you for raising the issue, which you previously raised on 1 October, when I last attended the committee. Beyond what I have done in the past few months, I am keen to engage with as many colleges and universities as I can in the new year. I have had helpful correspondence with UHI in the past few months since my appointment on 23 September. Unfortunately, because of parliamentary business and other commitments, I have not had the capacity to engage fully with all parties involved in this matter. However, I hope that you can take it in good faith that I want to do that in the new year. I will seek to engage with you personally as a member with an interest in the issue, and more widely with the committee, too, if that is helpful. I do not have anything to add beyond what I said on 1 October, which, in the interest of time, I do not think is worth stating again.

I would be interested to hear those perspectives, if it is practical. I have sought to engage as widely as I could since I was appointed on 23 September, and it is important for all of us in politics to hear different perspectives and perceptions. I would certainly be interested in that.

I endorse everything that the cabinet secretary just said. We need to consider the issue collectively and in the broader context. The ambition is fair access for everyone who wants to go to university and whom university is right for, and, in recent days, the commissioner and I have talked about that in relation to widening access.

From what I have heard around the committee table, in previous engagement in Parliament and certainly from stakeholders, I feel that we collectively want to lead a shift in social consciousness whereby people undertake the pathway that is right for them. Genuine parity of esteem needs to be realised by moving away from any sense of hierarchy of achievement. Of course, different qualifications require different demands, skills, talents and abilities, but the most enrichment for the individual and for all of society together would be getting to the point of parity of esteem, whereby people feel empowered to proudly drive forward in the area that is right for them.

That wider context is important in relation to Withers and what we are trying to do with apprenticeships.

Adam Reid wants to inform the committee about that.

Anecdotally, I have heard this week from a contact made at an event that I attended at the University of Aberdeen about the negative impact on international admissions resulting from the UK Government’s immigration policy. It is important that the Government explores beyond anecdotal feedback, but that feedback is concerning.

I will be engaging with Universities Scotland in the weeks ahead, and I hope to have the opportunity to ask that question at some point during the dialogue and deliberations that I will have with Universities Scotland tomorrow. I would like to get a sense from the sector of whether other institutions are experiencing that. If they are, that is concerning for us all in Scotland and across the UK, as it shows the negative impact of UK Government immigration policy on our university admissions processes.

I am sorry—I misinterpreted that.

In order for our country to realise and make the most of economic growth and collective reward, while also creating opportunities, reducing poverty and allowing learners to progress in areas where we have significant comparative advantage, such as offshore wind—or aerospace, an area where I have seen real galvanisation at first hand in Ayrshire in the west of Scotland—we want to support skills development in areas where there is clear growth in opportunities and demand for skills. We want to do that with our partners in universities, colleges and employers.

That is why implementation of the TET bill will be helpful. It will bring everything under one funding body and create agility and a modernised approach that will allow for creativity and for funding to be utilised to best effect in the most efficient way. Discussion around regional priorities both within the education directorate with regard to funding and with educational institutions is absolutely pertinent, and we are constructively and collaboratively engaged in that. In the economy space, we are working with employers to make sure that we realise the significant potential for economic growth.

I will ask Adam Reid to say more on skills development.

I will add to those answers, as this will also be of interest to Mr Briggs. In recent weeks, I met the principal and, as far as I recall, the chair of Dundee and Angus College in relation to their specific capital concerns and issues. The Government has been receiving more information on that for some time, which forms part of our considerations.

In terms of wider sustainability and the years ahead, Miles Briggs might be aware of the tripartite group in which the Scottish Government liaises with the Scottish Funding Council, Colleges Scotland and representatives from the sector. Its most recent meeting was held yesterday, when we had a helpful and constructive discussion on various issues and ideas for the way forward. I look forward to progressing that work in the new year in ways that ensure that, together, we not just meet the challenges that our college sector faces but make use of the huge opportunities that exist for the economy, communities and work to tackle poverty, given the important role that colleges play as anchor institutions in all that.

Thank you, Mr Kidd. There is quite a lot in that, so I ask the convener to bear with me as I go through it.

Before we talk about international students, it is important to emphasise for context, as I did in the chamber during the most recent committee debate, that official statistics released in March 2025 by the Higher Education Statistics Agency show an overall increase in the number of Scotland-based students at Scottish universities to 173,795, as well as a rise in full-time Scottish first-degree entrants.

We have hundreds of international students in Scotland, and they are very welcome. In recent months, we have sought to emphasise how welcome international students are in Scotland by, for example, ruling out the levy that the UK Government is going to charge international students. By doing that, we have sought to make sure that we emphasise that international students are welcome, and to try to create advantage for Scottish institutions that are competing for international students.

Remarkable collaborative work is also being done with the relevant stakeholders to tell the world as broadly as we can that Scotland is a great place to study, with remarkable institutions, historic prominence, reputations and extremely high-quality delivery. We know how well our universities do in the international rankings, for example. Scotland is a great place to study. We want people to come here, and we are trying our best to emphasise that in an environment in which the UK Government is making it more difficult for students to come here and has sought to tell the market indirectly that we want fewer students to come here. That is the only message that can be deduced by the immigration changes that are being made.

The pressures that our universities in Scotland face are similar to the pressures that universities across the UK face, in that financial sustainability is being compromised because of a number of external factors, one of which is the immigration changes. The unexpected national insurance hike was also challenging for our universities and it continues to be so as it was not alleviated in the UK Government budget that was announced at the end of last month.

Our universities are facing a challenge. We are seeking to support them and there will be more information about the work on sustainability that we are doing collaboratively and on a cross-party basis in the period ahead.

With regard to students from Gaza, I recently had the great privilege of meeting some of those who have come here to study. They are remarkable, skilled, passionate and determined individuals who have acquired and sustained their education in unimaginable circumstances. We can only try to think of how difficult it has been for them, and they are here in Scotland and grateful for the opportunity to study at our universities and to contribute to our society. They will also be determined to contribute to the rebuilding of Gaza and their society, if they return.

One of the issues that they face concerns visa arrangements, which goes back to the central point that the UK Government immigration changes are making it more difficult for people to study here.

I am pleased to support Bill Kidd’s amendment 18, which responds to requests made by trade unions and SAAB. The council will be required to have regard to the desirability of appointing the types of persons set out in the amendment, should it be agreed to. It rightly identifies employers, colleges and universities, training providers and trade unions—