The topic of free university tuition for people in Scotland has been back in the headlines in recent days.

It is never that far from the headlines it seems, but the thoughts of University of Glasgow principal Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli were, not surprisingly, noteworthy.

And the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) this week published a paper on Scottish university finances, in which real-terms falls in funding for the institutions for teaching home students were highlighted.

In an exclusive interview with Dani Garavelli for The Herald, Professor Muscatelli called on the SNP to plug the gap in funding for the teaching of Scottish undergraduates.

Interviewed the day after Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer raised English tuition fees to £9,535 a year, Professor Muscatelli said the Scottish and UK governments must stop relying on the “kindness of strangers”.

The article noted: “The ‘kindness of strangers’ is a term used to describe a country’s dependence on external investment to fund its current account deficit. Here, it applies to the dependence on international students whose hefty fees are required to keep the universities afloat.”

Reading on, it was a relief to find that Professor Muscatelli was not advocating the end of free university tuition for students living in Scotland.

He said it was up to society to decide whether university tuition should be free but that, for now, in Scotland, there appeared to be a consensus in favour.

This assessment of a consensus being in favour of free tuition was reassuring.

A Scottish Government spokesman meanwhile declared: “The Scottish Government appreciates the valuable contribution universities make to Scotland’s economy and wider society. That is why we continue to invest over £1 billion [a year] in the sector to support the delivery of excellent teaching, research and innovation.

“This funding has protected free tuition, ensuring record numbers of Scots are going to university because of their ability to learn and not their........

© Herald Scotland