Chamber and committees

Scotland’s Future, including the proposition to continue to charge students from elsewhere in the UK tuition fees in an independent Scotland, is consistent with and informed by legal advice the government has received. The content of any legal advice is confidential. By long-standing convention, successive Scottish and UK governments have not disclosed the source or content of legal advice other than in the most exceptional circumstances.

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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-22149 on 13 August 2014. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

Figures from the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) show that the proportions of Scottish domiciled, full time undergraduate first degree students from the 40% most deprived data zones, as ranked by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, who did not continue into the next year of study at one of Scotland’s four ancient universities were:

It is not possible to confirm if these students embarked on another course of higher education study after leaving their original course.

In a letter of guidance issued to the SFC on 31 July 2014, I confirmed that the Scottish Government wants to improve retention rates and the level and quality of support for students who need more assistance to successfully complete their course, particularly at those universities performing less well in this regard.

The letter of guidance 2015-16 is available at:

http://www.sfc.ac.uk/aboutus/letterofguidance/letterofguidance.aspx

The Post-16 Education (Scotland) Act 2013 introduced statutory widening access agreements as part of the wider outcome agreement dialogue between the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) and each higher education institution in Scotland.

A university outcome agreements summary document, published by the SFC in May 2014, sets out how individual universities are improving access for students from more deprived communities. Activities include development or expansion of summer schools and other programmes focused on assisting students to obtain a place at university.

A good example involving one of the ancient universities is the University of Glasgow’s refinement of their admissions process as part of an approach to recruiting 200 extra entrants from the most deprived 40% of data zones, as ranked by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, over the next three years.

In 2013-14, the Scottish Government committed additional funded places for Scottish and EU students to support widening access to a university education and articulation from college to university. A further commitment has been made for academic year 2014-15.

Enabling students from the most deprived backgrounds to study at ancient universities also requires closing the attainment gap in schools. Independence will have a significant and positive impact on education if Scotland has control of the welfare, benefits and taxation systems. With independence – and control over these powers – we have a decisive opportunity to put an end to underachievement in our schools that is caused by poverty.

A new student support package was introduced for academic year 2013-14. Implementation of the revised package received praise from NUS Scotland. The new system included an annual minimum income of £7,250, through a combination of bursaries and loans, for students with a family income of less than £17,000.

Other improvements included a revised minimum student loan amount for all eligible students of £4,500. Expansion in the amount of money available to all students resulted in an increase in overall lending during the first year of operation of the new, simplified support package.

The reasons for looked after children and young people experiencing poorer educational outcomes, lower levels of educational attainment and positive destinations are multiple and various.

The 2007 report We Can and Must Do Better highlighted ‘‘continuity, stability, a sense of security and support as key to ensuring that looked after children and young people do as well as their peers in terms of achievement and attainment at school and in positively participating in the wider school community.’’

Further, the Scottish Parliament’s Education and Culture Committee report Inquiry into the educational attainment of looked after children indicated that ‘‘Children are ready to learn when they are emotionally stable, with secure attachments to key care givers, are free of threat and risk and attend school on a regular and consistent basis, and are supported by key role models who value education and actively support learning’’.

Whilst there is still much to be done, the 2012-13 educational outcomes statistics demonstrate the progress that has been made in improving the attainment and achievement of looked after children. Since 2009 the proportion of young people in positive destinations has increased by 12 percentage points and the average tariff score has increased by 19 tariff score points. Attendance is improving and exclusions have fallen by 43%.

The Scottish Government and all its partners have a strong shared commitment to raising attainment for all and closing the attainment gap between children and young people who are most and least advantaged.

The causes of educational inequality are complex and varied. Recent research, such as the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report Closing the attainment gap in Scottish education, which was published in May 2014, suggests that there are many contributory factors including deprivation, gender, a child’s home environment, additional support needs and looked after status.

But there are other influential factors which we have limited control over. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has estimated that an additional 50,000 Scottish children will be living in relative poverty by 2020 because of UK welfare reform, and when housing costs are taken into account, the figure could be as high as 100,000.

Our Child Poverty Strategy for Scotland expresses our commitment to focus on the need to tackle the long-term drivers of poverty, through early intervention and prevention, partnership and holistic services.

Independence will have a significant and positive impact on education if Scotland has control of the welfare, benefits and taxation systems. With independence – and control over these powers – we have a decisive opportunity to put an end to underachievement in our schools that is caused by poverty.

While we cannot mitigate all of the impacts of welfare reform, we are continuing to do what we can within our existing powers and resources to mitigate the worst impacts where possible. Our current and planned funding will result in an investment of at least £260 million over the period 2013-14 to 2015-16. This will help to limit the most damaging effects of welfare reforms.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-22161 on 13 August 2014. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

The Scottish Government supports a number of activities which provide information on high-attaining children from disadvantaged backgrounds:

The Scottish Government funds Growing Up in Scotland, a study which contains a wealth of longitudinal data which allows us to explore the social and emotional wellbeing of children, resilience characteristics of children from areas of high deprivation and how these link with educational experiences.

As part of its review of Curriculum for Excellence in 2015, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development will give consideration to how the Scottish education system is performing in terms of attainment and achievement, and how we can achieve more equitable outcomes across the social spectrum.

We intend to work with the University of Edinburgh to develop the Edinburgh Study of Youth Transitions and Crime to better understand the educational attainment and outcomes of that cohort of young people.

Education Scotland routinely highlight areas of good practice and success as part of their inspection and practice sharing activities.

Research, good practice and learning is already being shared across Scotland and is having an impact on attainment and closing the equity gap. To build on this, the Scottish Government is taking forward a range of activities to raise attainment and close the equity gap, including the Raising Attainment for All Programme. Education Scotland are augmenting this work with their School Improvement Partnership Programme.

Given the range of information and data currently available, the Scottish Government has no current plans to produce a more specific report on the progress made by
high-attaining children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Our focus is to work closely with partners to bring about practical change and improve outcomes for children and young people.