North East Scotland College ‘having to turn people away’

Students are being turned away from a place at North East Scotland College because of a lack of funding.

College principal Neil Cowie revealed the pressure as he called for more cash to deliver courses, including in rural areas.

Nescol delivers courses to around 6,000 full time students across four campuses in Aberdeen, Fraserburgh and Peterhead.

It increases to around 20,000 students across full-time, part-time, distance learning and school programmes.

“At Nescol, we’re having to turn people away,” he told Holyrood’s education committee on Wednesday.

“We’ve seen, for example, our Modern Apprenticeship (MA) provision double in two years.

“Interestingly enough where engineering is concerned, that is one of our growth areas, and it’s a concern for us to turn people away.

“We’ve also got high demand from schools. We have 6,500 young learners on a school college programme right now.”

‘We really need funding change’

Mr Cowie said Nescol is funded to deliver a full-time Higher National course at around £4,500, compared to the equivalent at university level of £7,500.

He added: “Is that fair? Why is it that college students should be funded to a lower level? We really need funding change at pace.”

We previously detailed how the college has lost millions to support rural communities since a new funding model was introduced when Aberdeen College merged with Banff and Buchan College in 2013.

The Fraserburgh-based college used to get a “rurality premium” to run more courses in areas with lower numbers.

The changes have resulted in the loss of around £3m every year, Mr Cowie told MSPs.

He added: “We really do need something to change in that funding model and it needs to be delivered at pace.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The Scottish Government has continued to invest over £2 billion a year in colleges, universities and the wider skills system, recognising the vital role they play in both education and the economy.

“Our programme of education and skills reform will ensure that the post-school education system is simpler and more sustainable for those who use it.

“As part of this work, we will take responsibility of skills planning at a national level, make improvements to apprenticeships and introduce a Bill to simplify the funding landscape.

“Ministers are determined to work collaboratively with the sector to ensure that reform can be a success, while meeting our shared ambitions.”