University opts for 'Scots first' plan

ONE of Scotland’s leading universities has revealed a controversial plan to discriminate in favour of Scottish students in a bid to stem the tide of tuition-fee refugees from England.

Edinburgh University chiefs have told Scotland on Sunday that when the institution has two students of similar backgrounds and qualifications competing for the same place, it will accept the one who lives in Scotland.

The proposal follows the release of figures last week by the university and college admissions body UCAS, which revealed the number of English students applying to study in Scottish universities has risen by almost 18% to 27,797.

Edinburgh revealed that this year applications to it from England soared by 17% while those from Scotland fell by a significant margin. More than 16,000 English prospective students applied this year compared with 13,000 Scots.

Professor Mary Bownes, vice-principal of admissions, said a new system introduced by the university last year in a bid to ensure more places for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, would be used to protect local candidates from being squeezed out of the institution and potentially having to attend courses in England, where top-up fees of up to £3,000 will be introduced next year.

English placement requests to Edinburgh University this year have already overtaken Scottish applications by 3,171 - a massive rise on last year.

So far this year, 16,862 applications have been received from south of the Border compared with 14,421 in 2004. In contrast Scots submissions have fallen marginally from 13,755 to 13,691.

The university’s stance has been condemned by education campaign groups who described it as "obviously discriminatory", but Bownes said it was about allowing students to reach their academic potential.

Bownes said: "We’re not trying to distinguish between people on the basis of their nationality, but we do think we have to give credit to people who can’t afford to move away because of the rising cost of education."

She said although the policy had been introduced to widen access to people who would not traditionally attend university rather than as a means of tackling the threat to Scots students’ places from English fee refugees, it was "fortunate it had turned out that way".

She said students this year will face additional competition for places in the most popular courses, such as Medicine, Law, English and History, because of the influx of applications from south of the Border.

Bownes denied the policy meant the university was discriminating against English students, but said in the face of heavy demand for courses by students with equal academic results, other factors will have to be taken into consideration, and that will include where an applicant is living.

"Places which are [already] competitive and where we have a limited number of places will be more competitive [as a result of more applicants from England]."

Under the scheme, which only applies to the most popular courses, applicants from Edinburgh receive the most points, with students from the rest of Scotland also receiving additional credits. Bownes said that in a situation where an English and Scots-based applicant were considered equal in every other way, the place would go to the Scots student.

"If they were truly, truly identical and it was down to the last couple of places [the additional points for Scots] would be taken into account and the Scottish student would be more likely to get the place." Bownes acknowledged the stance could lead to challenges from English applicants who had failed to get a place, but said she believed the policy would stand up to legal scrutiny.

"This is based on domicile, not ethnicity so I hope that would stop any [accusations of discrimination] but you can never tell what you are going to be challenged over."

She said an English-born student living in Scotland would receive the same credits as a Scottish student living in this country, while a Scots-born student living in England would be treated in the same way as anyone else applying from England.

However Nick Seaton, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, a parent-teacher campaign group, said the system was discriminatory.

He said: "I could well see there could be legal challenges. It is obviously discriminatory whatever their justification.

"The whole idea of manipulating admission requirements for social engineering purposes seems wrong in principle."

The National Union of Students Scotland also expressed concern about the principle of choosing students based on where they lived, but welcomed the university’s attempt to address some of the issues caused by the introduction of top-up fees in England.

Melanie Ward, president of NUS Scotland, said: "We would be uncomfortable about the idea of admitting people on the basis of where they come from.

"But it’s a complex position for the universities and it is positive they are recognising the problems caused to Scottish education by the introduction of top-up fees in England.

Scotland’s other three ancient universities, Aberdeen, St Andrews and Glasgow said they did not have a system in place which would favour Scots students over their southern counterparts.