The Scottish Conservatives will today highlight their plans for tackling the crisis in further education caused by years of SNP cuts to the college sector.
Deputy leader Meghan Gallacher will visit Ayrshire College’s Ayr campus to learn about the apprenticeships it offers students, including those providing a pathway into the aerospace industry.
While the SNP Government have imposed eye-watering cuts to colleges, the Scottish Conservatives would work with industry to create a National Skills Strategy – ensuring apprenticeships are funded on the basis of need – and remove the funding cap on places.
The party’s manifesto also backs the establishment of a virtual National College of Scotland, which would offer courses to everyone in the country, regardless of their location.
Scottish Conservative deputy leader Meghan Gallacher said: “Scotland’s college sector is in crisis due to systemic underfunding by the SNP Government.
“These cuts pose an existential threat to Scotland’s colleges, and a resultant shortage of young people with the skills that employers need.
“The Scottish Conservatives are committed to properly funding apprenticeships and ensuring that funding is directed towards the areas of greatest workforce need. We would do this by working with industry to create a National Skills Strategy.
“The Scottish Conservatives are also committed to establishing a virtual National College of Scotland – similar to the Open University, but for further education – so that those living in rural and remote areas can still acquire the skills they, and employers, need.
“Our plans would revive Scotland’s colleges after years of SNP neglect.”
Notes to editors
The SNP have imposed a cut of over 5% on Scotland’s Universities and Colleges funding body. The SNP Government have reduced spending on the Scottish Funding Council by 5.3% from 2023-24 to 2024-25. This leaves the body responsible for funding Scotland’s 19 universities and 24 colleges with a significant reduction in funding of over £107 million in cash terms and over £141 million in real terms. (Scottish Government, 19 December 2023, Page 73, link).
The net college resource budget has been cut by almost £59 million. As part of a significant reduction for Scotland’s universities and colleges in the SNP Government’s budget, the fund which covers most day-to-day spending in colleges will receive £58.7 million less funding with 2024-25 spending being £643 million, down from £701.7 million in 2023-24. (Scottish Government, 19 December 2023, Page 73, link).
There are fears that some of Scotland’s colleges could run of money by July. Shona Struthers, chief executive officer at umbrella body Colleges Scotland, told MSPs there were institutions expecting to have “no cash of their own by July”. The stark warning came during an evidence session of the education committee at Holyrood. (The Scotsman, 12 June 2024, link).
The Scottish Conservatives would create a National Skills Strategy. More needs to be done to encourage adult learning, to ensure that Scotland’s workforce is continually upskilling and reskilling in line with the demands of our economy. Tackling this skills gap will require the right incentives and support for in-work training. Our National Skills Strategy will inform our approach to developing an education and skills system that delivers for our economy, both today and in the future. (Scottish Conservative Manifesto 2024, 24 June 2024, link).
The Scottish Conservatives would create a virtual National College of Scotland. This will ensure that, wherever people live in the country, they have access to bite-sized education courses. This could lead to qualifications in themselves or act as entry points to further college or university study. (Scottish Conservative Manifesto 2024, 24 June 2024, link).
The Scottish Conservatives will invest in a Universal Personal Skills Fund for every Scottish adult. This would give adults guaranteed access to funding support for re-training and up-skilling. The universal availability of this support would aim to create culture change and shift mindsets away from the idea that education should end in early adulthood. This could be used to contribute towards government support for an apprenticeship, the cost of training towards a qualification or the cost of a university degree. A premium would be made available for study in areas where there is a shortage, such as medicine or engineering, to contribute towards masters or PhD study. (Scottish Conservative Manifesto 2024, 24 June 2024, link).