Scottish Government

Scotland's Chief Statistician today published statistics on Higher Education Student Support In Scotland 2007-08. These figures provide information on support provided or assessed by the Student Awards Agency for Scotland ( SAAS) to higher education students in Scotland and elsewhere in academic years 2002-2003 to 2007-2008. The statistics in this release supersede those published by Scotland's Chief Statistician on 13 November 2007.

Key Findings

• The level of all types of support administered by SAAS increased by 4.0 per cent in academic year 2007-2008 to £458.6 million. The number of students supported increased by 0.4 per cent to 122,505.
• In 2007-2008 the amount paid out as non-repayable awards increased by 1.9 per cent, fee payments increased by 11.4 per cent and the value of loan authorisations decreased by 0.8 per cent compared with the previous academic year. The fall in loan authorisations follows the trend seen since 2002-2003.
• Award payments accounted for 22.9 per cent of mainstream support administered by SAAS in 2007-2008, fee payments accounted for 37.0 per cent and loan authorisations for 40.2 per cent.
• In 2007-2008, 74.0 per cent of students who received SAAS support were studying for a first degree. This is consistent with previous years.
• The number of EU students receiving support from SAAS has increased by 93.8 per cent to 8,680 between 2002-2003 and 2007-2008. This includes a 17.6 per cent increase in EU student numbers since 2006-2007. EU students receive fee support only. In academic year 2007-2008 92.9 per cent of those supported by SAAS were Scottish domiciles.
• Fee payments totalled £169.5 million in 2007-2008, an increase of 11.4 per cent on the previous year. This is mainly due to the increase in tuition fees introduced for new entrants in 2006-2007 now applying to both new entrants and those in the second year of their course in 2007-2008.
• Fee loan payments for students studying outside Scotland in the rest of the UK have increased by 106.8 per cent to £5.6 million since their introduction for new entrants in 2006-2007. This increase was due to this support being available to both first and second year students in 2007-2008 compared to only those in their first year in 2006-2007.
• Award payments to young students, students with dependents and students with a disability have increased by 36.8 per cent since 2002-2003 to £80.7 million in 2007-2008. This is an increase of 0.4 per cent since 2006-2007
• In 2007-2008 3,625 students were in receipt of Disabled Students Allowance payments totalling £8.1 million. This is an increase of 7.1 per cent in terms of students and 6.7 per cent in terms of amounts paid out since 2006-2007.