THE PRINCIPAL and vice-chancellor of St Andrews University, Dr Brian Lang, yesterday highlighted the welcome change in the financial prospects of Scotland’s higher education sector after the bleak expectations of only 12 months ago.

Addressing a packed audience in the Younger Hall at a special Saint Andrew’s Day graduation ceremony, Dr Lang said it was “a time for feeling good.”

He added, “A year ago, the outlook for universities in Scotland looked somewhat uncertain. I remarked at that time that those of us running Scottish universities were not confident about our financial future.

“I am very pleased to be able to say that the financial climate has changed for the better, because Scotland’s First Minister and Deputy First Minister have announced significant additional funding for universities.

“We will therefore be better able to compete with those universities south of the border, and in the USA, alongside whom we wish to be seen.

“I am able to place on record today this university’s satisfaction that Scottish ministers have recognised the substantial role higher education in Scotland is playing, not just producing new knowledge and contributing to economic growth, but in producing well-educated people who will help us continue to build a more civilised society.”

St Andrews, said Dr Lang, continues to welcome students from an ever-diversifying range of backgrounds.

He continued, “In particular, we are attracting steadily increasing numbers of students from what are euphemistically known as ‘non traditional’ backgrounds as far as higher education is concerned.

“But it is important to note that while we are attracting students from all sorts of backgrounds, and giving many of them significant financial assistance to help them come here, our strategies for social inclusion—another vogue phase—are intended to ensure that excellence is not compromised.

“We want to maintain high academic standards while also wishing to encourage anyone who will do well here to come, no matter their background. We know there are lots of bright people in Scotland who would shine here and our task is to identify them and then persuade them to apply to St Andrews.”

However, the principal also made it clear that St Andrews will not do any academic favours.

He said, “Certainly, we may take applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds, who just fail to make the entry grade, into a summer school. But they are admitted to first-year studies only if they can prove to us, by passing through the summer school successfully, that they have the intellectual capacity to make their way in the tough academic climate of St Andrews.

“We have no interest in encouraging people to come here who will most likely fail. That does no-one any good. We are committed to equal opportunity in admissions but we are determined to offer equality of opportunity to an excellent institution, whose academic standards remain high. This strategy is serving us well.”

Dr Lang explained that the student body of St Andrews is “increasingly diverse,” with more Scottish domiciled students than ever applying to attend.

He added, “What is reassuring, is that once students enter first year, academically speaking, in terms of their performance in producing course work and getting through exams, they are indistinguishable from one another.

“Let us not forget that our patron saint, Andrew, whose special day we are celebrating, was a fisherman. This university is also fishing and we are casting our net ever wider and ever deeper.”