Nigel joined the President of Edinburgh University Students’ Association Thomas Graham to launch the campaign to stop elite universities raising the cap on fees above £3,225.  Imperial College is lobbying for a £15,000 fee.  Mr Graham told the Association: “We welcome the lead Nigel is showing in rejecting these proposals.”

David Cameron’s University spokesperson David Willetts MP said he supports raising the fee cap.  The National Union of Students Scotland believes that higher fees would act as a deterrent to Scottish students applying to English universities.

Lifting the cap would also give English and Welsh universities more funding than Scottish universities and damage Scottish universities’ ability to provide world-leading higher education. 

It is extremely unlikely that the present Scottish Government could find the extra money to bring university expenditure in Scotland up to the level of those charging high top-up fees.  This would increase the pressure on Scottish universities to introduce some form of student/graduate contribution in Scotland.