This book examines the impact of devolution on Scottish and UK higher education systems, including institutional governance, approaches to tuition fees and student support, cross-border student flows, widening access, internationalisation and research policy. Throughout the book, higher education is used as a lens through which to interrogate critically the Scottish Government’s claim that, alone in the UK, Scotland remains a bastion of collectivism and social democracy. The authors point out that Scottish universities have flourished since devolution, attracting growing numbers of internation ... More

This book examines the impact of devolution on Scottish and UK higher education systems, including institutional governance, approaches to tuition fees and student support, cross-border student flows, widening access, internationalisation and research policy. Throughout the book, higher education is used as a lens through which to interrogate critically the Scottish Government’s claim that, alone in the UK, Scotland remains a bastion of collectivism and social democracy. The authors point out that Scottish universities have flourished since devolution, attracting growing numbers of international students and expanding their research income. However, elite institutions in particular have failed to increase the proportion of students from poorer backgrounds, thus reproducing rather than challenging wider social inequality. The abolition of tuition fees in Scotland has made no difference to unequal patterns of participation. This policy favours those from more advantaged backgrounds who continue to claim the lion’s share of university places in Scotland.