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Publication - Progress report

National Innovation Strategy: Scorecard (2026 Update)

Published
27 October 2026
From
Minister for Innovation, Technology and Tertiary Education, +1 more … Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Tourism and Transport
Directorate
Economic Development Directorate, +1 more … Chief Economist Directorate
Topic
Business, industry and innovation, Economy
ISBN
9781807756833

The national innovation strategy first published an innovation scorecard in 2023, tracking Scotland's performance against key metrics compiled from publicly available data. In the third annual update to the scorecard, Scotland’s innovation performance is compared to UK and global peers.

View supporting documents Supporting documents

3. Academic income

Ecosystem:

Concept

Performance assessment:

Performance Maintaining

At a glance

  • Total academic income in 2024/25 was £711 million, a real terms increase of 0.3%.
  • Scotland ranks 1st in the UK for total academic income relative to regional GDP.

What this indicator measures

  • Academic income from business and community interactions is an early indicator of innovation between higher education and business. The indicator includes seven categories of income, categorised as contract and other income.
  • Contract income includes:
  • Consultancy contracts
  • Contract research
  • Facilities and equipment related services
  • Other income includes:
  • Collaborative research involving public funding
  • CPD and Continuing Education courses
  • Intellectual Property (incl. sale of shares in spin-offs)
  • Regeneration and development programmes

Current Performance[9]

  • Total income in 2024/25 was £711 million. This was an increase of 4% in nominal terms and 0.3% in real terms.
  • Contract income in 2024/25 was £316 million. This was a decrease of 3.2% in nominal terms and 6.6% in real terms.
  • Other income in 2024/25 was £395 million. This was an increase of 10.5% in nominal terms and 6.5% in real terms.

Key data table

Table 3: Breakdown of academic income for Scotland since 2020/21.
Income £m 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25
Contract Value cash £292m £308m £340m £327m £316m
2024/25 prices £351m £354m £369m £339m £316m
Other Value cash £399m £365m £349m £358m £395m
2024/25 prices £479m £420m £379m £371m £395m
Total Income cash £691m £673m £689m £684m £711m
2024/25 prices £830m £774m £747m £710m £711m

Source: HESA. Note: Cash terms and rounded to the nearest £1 million

UK comparison

  • Scotland ranks 1st for total academic income amongst UK regions relative to regional GDP, ahead of other devolved nations Northern Ireland and Wales.
  • Scotland ranks 1st for total contract income amongst UK regions.
  • Scotland ranks 3rd for total other income amongst UK regions. Although Scotland’s total other income increased in 2024/25, this was also the case for many other UK regions holding Scotland in 3rd.

International comparison

  • There are no readily available comparisons.

Key charts and insights[10]

Figure 8: Total academic income remained broadly stable from 2020/21 to 2023/24, before increasing in 2024/25.
Academic income was broadly stable until 2023/24 before increasing to £711 million in 2024/25.

Source: HESA

Figure 9: Scotland remained the leading UK nation and region for academic income as a share of GDP in 2024/25.
Scotland ranked first among UK nations and regions for academic income relative to GDP in 2024/25.

Source: HESA. Note: 2024/25 academic income shown against 2024 regional GDP.

About the data

Contact

Email: innovation@gov.scot

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