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The English Democrats have condemned the move by the universities of Edinburgh and St Andrews to set tuition fees at the highest level possible for British students from outside Scotland. Both Edinburgh and St Andrews have opted to charge students £36,000 for a four-year course, making their degrees the most expensive in the UK. This move comes after MSPs approved measures which will allow Scottish universities to charge up to £9,000 a year for students from the rest of the UK. The two institutions are the most popular in Scotland with students from the rest of the UK and currently account for about 40 per cent of the English, Northern Irish and Welsh students studying in Scotland. The regulation to raise fees for students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland is intended to come into force on 1 August next year. It was prompted by a UK government decision to allow English universities to charge up to £9,000 a year. Holyrood's education and culture committee yesterday agreed to the controversial plan, with one abstention from Conservative MSP Liz Smith. Robin Parker, president of the National Union of Students in Scotland, said: "We're deeply disappointed that fees for students from the rest of the UK studying in Scotland will go ahead as planned. "The average degree in Scotland will be more than the maximum allowed in England, and we'll have two institutions where £36,000 degrees will be the norm – way above the typical degree cost in England. "We cannot accept the excesses we've seen from some Scottish principals for this coming year, with mortgage-level degree costs and no protection for widening access for students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland." The English Democrats believe that the policy of allowing free higher education for Scottish students in Scotland, yet charging £9,000 a year for exactly the same service to other UK students simply because they were not born in Scotland is discrimination. This situation further highlights the inequalities that are created when some regions within the UK have their own parliament, first minister and devolved government when England has been denied the same right. This system has created a two-tier apartheid education system where Scottish students are treated as first class citizens and English, Welsh and Northern Irish students are clearly treated as second class citizens forced into a life of student debt which will bog them down for years to come. English Democrats Chairman Robin Tilbrook commented: "This just highlights how the devolution has made England the poor relation in the British Isles. Only by lobbying and campaigning for an English Parliament can the English right these inequalities."
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Scottish Unis Fleece English Students
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