At Holyrood, on 13 January, Finance Secretary Shona Robison relayed the Scottish Government’s budget for 2026-27.
The nexus of the budget was to affect upward social mobility as the population remains scathed by the cost-of-living crisis.
One focus was addressing the fiscal challenges faced by the education sector, with many universities struggling due to underfunding and the mass exodus of staff through severance schemes and voluntary redundancy.
The Scottish Government pledged a £2.4bn investment into Scotland’s College and University sectors to expand opportunities and secure priority workforce needs.
£55m for resource and capital funding will be injected into Scotland’s universities, a 5 per cent increase from last year’s budget.
However, the education sector’s response to the budget was dissatisfied and frustrated.
President of the National Union of Students Scotland (NUS), Sai Shraddha S. Viswanathan, criticised the government for underfunding of the education sector, what she terms “short-sighted vandalism.”
She argued that the budget has failed to ensure the “long-term viability of institutions,” risking the closure of campuses.
Students at the University of Edinburgh expressed feelings of fatigue and anxiety surrounding the state of universities in Scotland.
A student from Aberdeen told The Student that she is concerned that “the opportunity to have a free education” is threatened.
Another student from the School of Divinity said that they are seeing the effects of the lack of funding and resources in real terms through the axing of courses at the school.
It further calls into question whether the current funding model for Scottish universities is still adequate.
“Official portrait of deputy first minister Shona Robison (Cropped 1)” by Scottish Government is licensed under CC BY 2.0.