Insight Briefings
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Scottish Funding Council Insight Briefings are a new and important part of our ambition to spread knowledge and generate new ideas.
Based on the data and analysis available to us as Scotland’s tertiary education and research authority, Insight Briefings examine key issues within our tertiary education and research system.
Universities Income Flows
Scotland’s first university was established over 500 years ago, beginning the tradition of excellence in learning and research that has become engrained in the country’s identity. Pride in what Scottish universities have achieved, and continue to achieve, extends beyond campuses to wherever people talk about Scotland’s place in the world.
More recently, however, such conversations are likely to include concerns about the future of Scotland’s universities in the light of financial challenges and changes in the global economy.
This Insight Briefing aims to contribute to a better understanding of current university finances. The report takes a wide view and analyses trends as they have developed over time. It describes cause and effect; how, for example, global events like the Covid-19 pandemic affected university income flows.
It also attempts to explain the complex ways in which universities balance out different income sources whilst maintaining the integrity of their own purpose and missions. In doing so, it examines recent fluctuations in profit and loss margins across different streams of universities’ operations.
Read the short version
Read the full Insight Briefing
Commission on Widening Access 2030 target
This Scottish Funding Council (SFC) Insight Briefing takes a closer look at progress towards the Commission on Widening Access 2030 target. The target is that, by then, students from the 20% most deprived areas in Scotland will represent 20% of Scottish entrants to full-time first degree courses at university. The shorthand for this group is SIMD20. The target is to be met via a series of milestones, including a 2026 milestone of 18%.
The Briefing explains and quantifies two pipelines for making progress. It examines what colleges and universities have achieved, and it looks at what this has meant for students. It concludes by describing the challenges in meeting the target.
SFC Strategic Plan 2022-27
Building a connected, agile, sustainable tertiary education and research system for Scotland.