Local MSP for the Linlithgow Constituency, Fiona Hyslop, has said that the UK Government’s decision to increase tuition fees in England shows that only the SNP can be trusted to protect free tuition for students in West Lothian.
UK Education Secretary Bridget Philipson announced on Monday 4th November, that fees will increase to £9,535 per year as a freeze on tuition fees which has seen them capped since 2017/18 comes to an end under Labour.
Commenting Fiona said:
“It is clear that the Labour Government cannot be trusted on tuition fees as we have seen with the Education Secretary’s announcement that fee will be increasing in England.
“As the Government Minister who abolished the Graduate Endowment Fee, abolishing an unfair education tax and making higher education free in Scotland, I am proud to see the SNP Government are committed to keeping university free for students in Scotland.
“Over the years I have heard from a number of families and students across West Lothian who have benefitted from free university tuition and under the SNP we have seen record numbers of Scottish students securing places at our universities.
“In West Lothian in 2022-23, we seen 91.1% of school leavers go on to a positive destination, with 34.7% of these leavers going on to higher education.
“This progress has only been possible because the SNP Scottish Government abolished Labour’s tuition fees when we came to power – and the Scottish Government will not let them be reimposed on students in West Lothian.”
ENDS