Sir Peter Lampl: University places

It is worrying that it is becoming harder for Scottish students to gain a university place because of the cap on student places. This is particularly important if Scotland is to improve access for disadvantaged students. Our recent Access in Scotland report showed that poorer Scottish students were less likely to go from school to university than their English counterparts.

But one initiative that seemed to be helping involved providing funding for extra places for less advantaged students at the best universities. We are worried that the government has put the funding for this back into the overall pot. We also need to see the urgent appointment of the “fair access” commissioner promised by the first minister before this year’s election to ensure progress is made.