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CROSS BORDER STUDENT FLOWS:

HIGHER EDUCATION TUITION FEE LEVELS

UNISON Scotland's response to the Consultation on Cross Border Student Flows: Higher Education Tuition Fee Levels

May 2005

Executive Summary

  • UNISON Scotland believes that the high reputation of Scotland's universities must be maintained by attracting the best available students from Scotland, the EU and the rest of the UK.

  • UNISON Scotland believes that the measures proposed in the Consultation to introduce a higher flat-rate tuition fee for English and Northern Irish medical students studying at Scottish Universities will be a retrograde step.

  • In his report, "Review of Basic Medical Education in Scotland", Professor Calman identified several mechanisms for increasing the number of doctors in Scotland and we expect that all of these will be explored.

  • UNISON Scotland would recommend the Executive to develop initiatives for medically qualified refugees who are already in the country to enable them to become registered and encourage them to practice in Scotland.

  • We particularly believe that the entry requirement of five Highers at a single sitting, which cannot be accommodated in many secondary schools, must be removed.

Introduction

UNISON is Scotland's largest trade union representing 150,000 members delivering public services in Local Government, Health, further and higher education, energy (gas and electricity), water, transport and the voluntary and community sector.

This paper constitutes UNISON Scotland's response to the consultation document issued by the Scottish Executive on Cross Border Student Flows: Higher Education Tuition Fee Levels

Response

UNISON Scotland welcomes the opportunity to comment on the above Consultation by the Scottish Executive.

We wish to say at the outset that we appreciate fully the dilemma being experienced by the Executive in its endeavour to attract sufficient new doctors to Scotland, as highlighted in the Calman report, "Review of Basic Medical Education in Scotland". We also believe that Scottish Universities have an enviable reputation throughout the World as centres of excellence.

We believe that the measures proposed in the Consultation to introduce a higher flat-rate tuition fee for English and Northern Irish medical students studying at Scottish Universities will be a retrograde step. The long-term viability of our universities depends on them retaining their position as centres of excellence which means they must be able to attract the best students, not just the richest. This in turn will lead to greater attraction of research grants, a prime indicator of success. The introduction of the additional fee, akin to the top-up fees being charged in England and Northern Ireland, threatens that principle and could lead in the long run to Scottish universities being adversely affected, when compared with those in England and other parts of the UK.

UNISON Scotland appreciates that funding for higher education in Scotland has increased markedly since the inception of the Scottish Parliament. Nevertheless, we believe there is still room for improvement and to this end we echo the sentiments of Sir Muir Russell, Principal of the University of Glasgow, who has repeatedly called for increased funding of the Higher Education sector.

UNISON nationally is opposed to the introduction of top-up fees in England and Northern Ireland and has campaigned through the TUC for their abolition. We are concerned they could lead to a two-tier system in higher education; increase student overall debt and in particular, believe they act as a disincentive to entering public sector employment. Whilst not successful in this aim, the campaign was successful in gaining important concessions from the Government.

UNISON Scotland supports the Scottish Executive's focus on increasing the number of doctors available to work in NHS Scotland and welcomes the research carried out by Professors Calman and Temple on the situation of medical students in Scottish Universities. We note the analysis on the extent of Scottish domiciled students who continue to work in Scotland and appreciate the need to maintain the level of Scottish students accepted into the Scottish medical schools. However, Professor Calman identified several mechanisms for increasing the number of doctors in Scotland and we expect that all of these will be explored. The other measures included: an increase in the overall number of medical students; improvements in postgraduate training; improvements to the terms and conditions of consultants; encouraging doctors from other countries to come and work in Scotland. On the latter point, UNISON would recommend the Executive to develop initiatives for medically qualified refugees who are already in the country to enable them to become registered and encourage them to practice in Scotland.

We support the recommendations of the Calman Report to widen the range and diversity of medical students and the proposals for working with Scottish Secondary schools. We particularly believe that the entry requirement of five Highers at a single sitting, which cannot be accommodated in many secondary schools, must be removed.

We support the comments made by the National Union of Students that it would be more productive to introduce incentives for medical students to remain in Scotland, and calling for other incentives to be properly considered. We support the comments of Universities Scotland in their belief that increasing the tuition fees "is not the only, or probably even the most effective, way of addressing the perceived problem: it is making a medical career in Scotland appear attractive that is the surest way of retaining doctors, whatever their domicile prior to their medical studies". We also support in total the comments of the BMA Scotland which we believe sum up the major part of our submission.

 

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For Further Information Please Contact:

Matt Smith, Scottish Secretary
UNISONScotland
UNISON House
14, West Campbell Street,
Glasgow G2 6RX

Tel 0845 355 0845 Fax 0141 342 2835

e-mail matt.smith@unison.co.uk

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