To be gobsmacked at how lucky we are in Scotland with our low tuition fees? Hats off to you lot elsewhere in the UK - and foreign students!

[49CremeEggs]

Completed my first degree in my teens to early twenties. Got it completely free thanks to SAAS.

I'm starting a second unrelated undergraduate degree in September for which i will have to fund the last two years myself (it's an allied health professional course, so SAAS will still pay the first two years). Each year costs approx £1,850, so I hope to save £4,000 by the time i'm due to start my third year.

However, for the rest of the UK, it's £9,000 a year! For foreign students coming here to study, it's £13,500 a year

Why on earth does it vary so greatly? It's completely unfair.

Makes me realise just how lucky i am to be in Scotland. And i hope SAAS is still around in twelve years' time when my dd will (hopefully) be starting to think about uni.

Not meaning to sound patronising, but hats off to all you non-Scottish students. How on earth can anyone afford to study elsewhere? Do you get loans?

I took out a loan for living expenses during my first degree. Think it totalled to under £3000 for the whole course.

Safe to say, if i wasn't living in Scotland, i'd have moved here in a jiffy if it meant no tuition fees.

Mrskeith-

Yes, I think it must be one of those irregular verbs, ie:

I use banter.
You tease.
They make nasty, racist remarks.

I have to say I have lived in Scotland for 10 years and (aside from the times when there were international football tournaments going on) I have experienced very little banter based on my being English let alone anything actually malicious. Most people don't even mention it. I'm sorry if that wasn't your experience Toad, but there are nasty, unkind people in all countries and it seems you ran into some in Scotland. On this thread though, and on all the others I have been on, the derogatory comments have been pretty much 100% against Scotland and Scottish people.

Scottish, living in Scotland, I didn't go to university, nor did DH but we are both flying high careerwise. He is in the public sector, I'm private. He has more job security than me and will continue to do so whether we are independent or not. There is so much emphasis these days pushing university or your life is over. My peers who went to uni, not one of them is working in the industry their degree is in bar one (doctor), I am at the same level as them money wise through experience and the odd course to prove my experience!

When it comes to DS leaving school, I will make sure he does what he wants but I sure as hell won't be pushing him to go to uni.

At the age of 25 my brother (who was written off by his school as he wasn't academic enough) is a plumber. He has his own business and employs people. He is by far the most successful of his friends so far.

Uni isn't everything! (I appreciate this debate has moved on, but I just wanted to add my tuppence worth)

Must go now I have some English neighbours I need to hurl abuse at!

Oh how I laughed when holidaying in Englandshire and the 'news' about Andy Murray and the whole anyone but England stuff broke. We were all like have they only just realised?

I think its highly likely that the Scots will be fine without us after devolution. After all they managed to fight off the biggest army in history with their bare hands.

Free university education is not frittering away taxpayers money it is an investment however I can understand why you wouln't want to subsidise the people that tried to starve your families in the name of upholding land laws and want to welcome the children of more trustworthy nations.

I think its highly likely that the Scots will be fine without us after devolution.

well we are doing fine we have had devolution for years and on our 3rd First Minster

4th forgot about Henry Mcliesh (sp)

And we're not allowed to be pissed of as that's us being bitter holding grudges and having that oft quoted 'chip on our shoulder´.

Pissed of about the past that should say

I certainly did meet some unpleasant characters in Scotland. As I noted myself, such people are to be found everywhere. What makes me have little patience with Scottish nationalism is that a number of those people have been Scots. They have tended to exhibit hyper-sensitivity to any perceived criticism of Scotland and are very quick to read in implied slights and insults.

I have noticed this tendency in the independence debate- criticism tends to be met with allegations of bad faith or lies.

I hate to admit it, but to be frank, it really saddens me that independence is even on the agenda. It seems instinctively silly to split a small island in two. It is like watching a squabbling couple.

Until Cameron stops sulking about the I dependence vote and starts to debate on what may happen in the event of a yes vote, I'm in the Yes camp. All this "I won't discuss until the votes have been cast" smacks of a greedy child refusing to let someone else play with his toys even if he doesn't want to play with them either! His petulance will push the undecided voters the way of the party that is actually presenting their hopes for independence! All this smokescreen with the EU is beginning to wear thin!

To be honest, every time Cameron opens his mouth on the subject he manages to push me further towards voting yes. He keeps going on about making a fact-based argument for the Union but then he presents vague arguments about "shared history" and saying we're "better together" without actually explaining why he thinks that

Exactly OptimisticPessimist, maybe we should just let him hang himself out to dry!

I said to DH the other day that they will witter on non commitally until the months leading up to the vote then, depending on the polls I think they might throw devo max on the table if a no vote wins.

Not a great deal of 'shared history' at least that wasn't shared without force or threat. English army would be sunk without the Scots recruits.

Toad its not a "squabbling couple" its a history steeped in blood and betrayal. If you want to use that analogy you are minimising and gaslighting.

I am certain that if it was a squabbling couple, and Scotland posted on the relationships board asking for advice and giving the history there would be a pretty unanimous LTB

Laughing at LTB.

Leave the bastard or leave the Britain?

"he once tried to kill me and now makes me live with a set of rules which I didn't choose" ..

LTB

ItsAllGoingToBeFine.
What a brilliant anology.

"He says that there is no way I am a separate person, I am an extension of himself, therefore no need for me to have an opinion" LTB

"He takes all my money and then gives me an allowance based on what he thinks is reasonable"

"We both like sports. Whenever I do well and win an award, he says it is our award, but when he wins something it is just his. Is this fair?"

" We both love football but she always insists upon supporting any team but mine "

" I earn more than her but she gets more to spend on herself than I do"