Chamber and committees

The Access to Education Fund is a £1.5 million fund which aims to reduce the barriers to learning experienced by pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. The fund, which will be administered by Education Scotland, will be open to applications from schools, from the week commencing 18 August 2014. Applications can be made for up to £5000 per school for a range of activities, including, funding to support pupils and their families for additional school materials, trips, uniforms, IT, coaching and mentoring and parental engagement programmes. Further guidance for schools and the application form can be found on the Education Scotland website:

www.educationscotland.gov.uk/supportinglearners/accesstoeducationfund.asp

The deadline for applications is 10 October 2014 at 5.00pm. Officials from the Scottish Government and Education Scotland will consider all applications and schools will be notified with a decision by the end of November 2014.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that the size of the overall loan book, as it relates to Scottish customers, remains sustainable and affordable.

Should the people of Scotland vote for independence, the administration of student loan scheme is a matter that will form part of transitional discussions between the Scottish and UK governments.

No analysis of graduate retention in that specific context has been undertaken. Should the people of Scotland vote for independence, the collection of student loan repayments is a matter that will form part of transitional discussions between the Scottish and UK governments.

Should the people of Scotland vote for independence, the collection of student loan repayments is a matter that will form part of transitional discussions between the Scottish and UK governments.

Should the people of Scotland vote for independence, the collection of student loan repayments is a matter that will form part of transitional discussions between the Scottish and UK governments. However, we do not anticipate any particular legal issues arising out of cross-border collection. Loan repayments are currently collected from residents both within and outwith the UK.

This information is not held by the Scottish Government.

With the other UK administrations, the Scottish Government is a shareholder in the Student Loans Company (SLC). The SLC does not manage repayment of student loan debt on behalf of the Scottish Government alone.

The information requested on collection of student debt is not held by the Scottish Government. However, the SLC website provides relevant information on this matter: http://www.slc.co.uk/official-statistics/student-loans-debt-and-repayment.aspx

The total number of students from the rest of the UK (rUK) studying at Scottish higher education institutes (HEIs) is shown in the table below. RUK students account for around 12 per cent of the HEI student population in Scotland.

Table 1: Students from the rest of the UK studying at Scottish higher education institutes from 2007-08 to 2012-13

Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency

The Scottish Government believes that the unique and unprecedented position of an independent Scotland will enable us to establish an objective justification for our current policy approach to tuition fees which meets the requirements of the EU.

The current policy, based on residence, recognises the need to maintain the current mix of students at Scottish universities in order to ensure that Scottish-domiciled students have the opportunity to study in Scotland, and that Scotland secures the graduate skills it requires, while ensuring that the universities also admit students from the rest of the UK and beyond.