Democrat reporter
It’s all very well for Prime MInister Keir Starmer to tell the Labour Party Conference that young people should choose college over university, but Scotland’s colleges, including West College in Dunbartonshire, face changing how they operate due to ongoing financial pressures.
The sector has experienced a 20 per cent real terms cut in funding over the last five years. Colleges are already delivering less teaching to fewer students to balance their books. And there is a risk that colleges could prioritise courses that are less expensive to deliver over those that meet local need.
The college workforce shrank by over seven per cent in 2023/24 as savings were sought through voluntary severance schemes. Despite these cost-cutting exercises, seven out of 24 colleges reported a deficit in 2023/24. Two colleges also required emergency funding from the Scottish Funding Council to stabilise their finances.
Colleges are generally providing good quality services, with high satisfaction rates and proportionally more students going on to further study or employment.
But the need to reduce costs has impacted on students and staff. Overall student numbers are down, and colleges are unable to meet the student and employer demand for some courses and apprenticeship programmes.
Stephen Boyle, Auditor General for Scotland, pictured right, said: “Scotland’s colleges are providing good services despite facing ongoing financial pressures.
“Funding has reduced and the demands on the sector are changing, with fewer older students enrolling, increasing competition from universities, and the impact of digital technology on delivering teaching.
“If those pressures continue, colleges will need to change how they operate rather than trying to deliver more of the same with decreasing resources.”
Responding to an embargoed Audit Scotland report which shows that colleges have experienced a 20% real terms cut in funding over the last five years, Scottish Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Willie Rennie MSP, pictured left, said:
“This report shows that the SNP have guillotined college budgets over many years.
“Their approach has been incredibly careless because it has led to a lack of skilled staff in key areas, from social care to nursery education, and contributed to a wider economic malaise.
“My party secured more money for colleges in the budget for the year ahead, helping them deliver programmes focused on care and offshore wind. It’s now down to the government to come good on that commitment.”
Scottish Labour Education spokesperson Pam Duncan-Glancy, pictured right, said “The SNP has systematically hollowed out Scotland’s colleges and robbed Scots of all ages of opportunities.
“This damning report lays bare years of punishing budget cuts and a total lack of leadership from this SNP government.
“College staff are doing a fantastic job of supporting student in the face of SNP failure, but their jobs are being cut by the day.
“Colleges are at the heart of our communities and our economy, and Scottish Labour will make sure they are able to thrive.”
Meanwhile, in the Scottsh Parliament today, following FMQs, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, right, said: “This morning, a scathing Audit Scotland report laid bare the SNP’s failure to support our colleges and young people.
“The SNP often speak about tackling inequality but fail to deliver when it comes to educating our children.
“Sixty per cent of young Scots do not go to university, with working-class kids more likely to go to college.
“But our colleges are in crisis and that is directly on John Swinney: A failed former Education Secretary who – let’s not forget – shamefully downgraded the results of working-class kids during the pandemic.
“And now his SNP Government refuse to fund a new welding centre on the Clyde – forcing Labour to intervene and secure these skilled jobs.
“Livelihoods and futures de-railed by SNP incompetence. Colleges cut, courses scrapped, and futures denied.
“This snooty, elitist SNP government refuses to recognise the value of Scotland’s colleges.”
When the subject was raised in the Scottish Parliament, Labour leader Anas Sarwar maintained: “A scathing Audit Scotland report laid bare the Scottish National Party’s failure to support our colleges and young people: a 20 per cent real-terms cut to colleges over the past five years, 30,000 fewer Scots getting college places, and a cash crisis that is putting jobs, institutions and college places at risk.
“When Scotland needs a new generation of skilled workers, why are apprenticeships and colleges of less value to the SNP than universities?”
John Swinney, left, the First Minister, replied: “That is not the case. Last year, more than 35,000 people started a modern apprenticeship in Scotland. A record 39,000 individuals are now in training, including 20,000 who are aged 16 to 19—an increase of 2.8 per cent on the previous year. That is a consequence of the Government’s investment.
“Let me reiterate what that investment was, because there was a lot of noise when I stated it a little while ago. The Scottish Funding Council allocations provide a 2.6 per cent increase in teaching funding for 2025-26 and an increase of almost 5 per cent in capital maintenance funding to help colleges to invest in their estates. In addition to the investment that we are making in apprenticeships and in the college sector, the Scottish Government is investing in the skills of the future, which is exactly what the Government should do.”