Scottish university fees scrapped, but thousands of students to repay lump sum

The Scottish Parliament voted in February to abolish the £2,289 graduate endowment, meaning that undergraduate education for Scottish students attending university within Scotland will be free from this academic year.

The Scottish National Party (SNP), which formed a minority government in the Scottish Parliament following its victory in last years local elections, ousting a Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition that had been in office since the parliament was established in 1999, defended the final demand from SAAS.

A Scottish government spokesman commented on the one-off charge to postgraduate students: Some students who completed their undergraduate courses in 2005, 2006 and 2007 and have continued their studies to a postgraduate level were allowed to defer the payment of the graduate endowment fee until they completed the course. This was a goodwill gesture and did not affect the date of liability. Now that the graduate endowment fee has been abolished and the scheme is being wound up, SAAS are no longer in a position to allow these students to defer.