The second findings paper from the Carnegie Education Fund (CEF) and Ipsos Citizens’ Jury on higher education funding has today been published, focussing on issues of equity and access.

This paper explores how participants believe that opportunity should be funded, including their views on Scotland’s free tuition policy, student finance, the introduction of student fees and graduate payments.

It shows that jurors consistently saw free higher education as central to widening access, and as the cornerstone of a fair funding system. When, however, they examined the evidence, they found that the current system does not resolve all inequities.

They were clear that introducing upfront fees should not be an answer, however they recognised the difficulty of sustaining opportunity for all within the current public funding context.

Their views highlight the complexity of choices ahead and underline the importance of keeping equity at the centre of future decisions around higher education funding.

Fairness emerged early in their discussions around higher education and remained a constant theme throughout.

As set out in the first paper, participants defined higher education’s value in terms of opportunity and progress and placed a particular emphasis on helping people move into work.

Download the Research Paper

This paper does not tell the full story of the citizens’ jury. Upcoming thematic papers in this series will explore participants views on pathways and universities. These will be released in coming weeks.

To find out more about the Citizens’ Jury and why it was commissioned, see the methodology paper.