There should be means-tested maintenance awards

There should be means-tested maintenance awards for part-time students, according to the Committee of Scottish Higher Education Principals.

In a supplementary submission to Cubie, Coshep says that the main deterrent to wider access by students from lower income groups is not tuition fees but maintenance costs.

The new fee-waiver scheme for low income or unemployed part-timers does not go far enough, it says. Maintenance support could come either through non-repayable bursaries or through the benefits system.

It also warns that it is crucial for postgraduates to have some level of public support.

The principals fear that the "double whammy" of having to repay undergraduate loans and self-fund postgraduate courses could lead to a damaging drop in postgraduate numbers at universities.