Student Finance and Wellbeing Study Scotland 2023/24: literature review

3. Scottish tertiary education

Scottish undergraduate degrees are generally four years in length rather than typically three years in the rest of the UK, and are mainly studied at university. Scottish students are able to progress on to a postgraduate degree such as a Postgraduate Diploma or Master’s following on from a successful completion of an undergraduate degree. Scottish students can study both FE and HE qualifications at college. FE courses are typically those below SVQ level 4 or SCQF level 7. However, some school level qualifications at college, such as Advanced Highers which are SCQF level 7, are classified as FE. HE courses at college are those that are typically at SCQF level 7 or above, such as HNCs or HNDs. These may also be classed as other undergraduate qualifications. In 2022-23, 26% of full-time equivalents (FTE) enrolled in Scottish colleges were studying an HE level course (SFC, 2024), with most enrolled on HNCs or HNDs. Upon completion of an HNC/D, students may have the option to ‘articulate’ to the second or third year of university degree programmes. This provides an alternative route into degree level study.

Widening access to HE has been a key policy focus in Scotland in recent years. The Commission on Widening Access (CoWA) target is that by 2030, students from the 20% most deprived backgrounds (SIMD20) should represent 20% of entrants to higher education, and that equality of access should be seen in the college and university sectors (SFC, 2024). Since the establishment of CoWA in 2015 there has been a 34% increase in the number of entrants from SIMD20 areas, and the first interim CoWA target was met early (to have 16% by 2021). In academic year 2022-23, 16.3% of Scottish-domiciled full-time first degree entrants at Scottish Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) were from SIMD20 areas (SFC, 2024). However, the proportion of SIMD20 students continues to vary by institution and they are disproportionately represented in colleges and in certain universities (SFC, 2024).