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.

[49CremeEggs]

Yes, i vote by post. I tick Scottish labour as that's who my local MP is (who has been really helpful with my dd and other stuff) and my parents always voted them when i was growing up. But tbh, i never really understand them. I got a postal vote through my door yesterday, and i have no clue what it's for.

Ah, thanks for that, OldLady.

If someone was to move to England (after spending their whole life so far in Scotland) for say five years, do you think they'd get funding if they were to then move back? Or would they have to have lived here again for three years first?

E.g. i spent thirty-five years living in Scotland. I move to England for five years for work. My dd wants to go to uni, so i relocate back to Scotland.

Will she have to then pay the same fees as an English student, even though she was born in Scotland and had spent most of her life here?

Or would i have to move back when she's 14/15, spend three years here first, and then she'd get SAAS funding that way?

[13Iggis]

It's not two parties, tories and scottish parliament. It's whoever is in power in Westminster and in Scotland - so could be (as if!) Tories in both, or Tories in London, Labour in Scotland, or Labour in London, SNP in Scotland. Or more likely, some kind of coalition.
I don't think everyone needs to be majorly interested in politics but you are really showing an absence of general knowledge to know nothing about this. I'd expect people living elsewhere in UK to at least now the basics. I loved the tv ads a while back where someone said the didn't "do" politics, and got a reply back about all the things that meant they had no interest in!

[13Iggis]

don't do politics

[NordicNoir]

Good question 49cremeeggs, and not sure where you would find the answer! If you can move back to Scotland easily, then that would seem like a fine plan.

[OldLadyKnowsNothing]

I think they'd have to do the three years again.

For easy to read, well-informed political comment on Scottish current affairs, Iain MacWhirter's blog is rather brilliaint. And I'm a tiny bit in love with [[http://www.heraldscotland.com/ian-bell Ian Bell too, but then I'm a bit of a 70's leftie.

[OldLadyKnowsNothing]

Sorry, buggered up the links. www.heraldscotland.com/ian-bell

iainmacwhirter2.blogspot.co.uk/

[13Iggis]

I wouldn't make plans now, hopefully by the time they're ready for uni the revolution will have already happened and education will be free

[LadyBeagleEyes]

I so don't want to be mean to you Op, but how the hell are you doing a degree without the slightest knowledge of politics?
I'm beginning to wonder if you're real.

[LightbulbSoup]

OP I know you said don't take the mick and I'm not, but I'm staggered as to how you live in Scotland and didn't know who our First Minister is or what devolution is.

Like 13Iggis says I'd also expect the UK to know that Scotland has its own parliament. I feel that there may be people who think we have a kid on parliament and are just playing at this when in fact it was a major deal for Scotland and it's people.

But fair play to you for saying you don't know. At least you're asking questions and you know who Salmond is now

[49CremeEggs]

I can assure you i'm real, LadyBeagle. Perhaps just too honest. And feeling incredibly stupid.

It's just something my mum never paid much interest in, so i didn't. She always rolled her eyes and huffed whenever my dad turned on the news or started debating with my sister over elections etc. As i say, i don't watch the news. Rarely i'll catch a glimpse of English news, or English online papers.

My last degree didn't involve politics at all. But the one i'm about to do probably will (NHS-related), so i'll have to research cuts etc a bit better throughout the course.

Thanks for the links and being patient with me. I've been called some right horrid names on another site whenever i mentioned something that revealed my lack of political knowledge before.

It would be truly terrfiying if SAAS ceased to exist. Actually feel sick at the thought of having to pay such high fees for my daughter to get through uni. Or her having all that debt.

I can remember hearing something last year about the English fees increasing. I just didn't expect it to be this much.

[Catchingmockingbirds]

I'm pretty sure you'd have to be living here 3 years prior to applying to be entitled to funding. You should check the SAAS website for more answers.

[LightbulbSoup]

Well calling you names for lack of knowledge isn't on. We all have topics that we maybe aren't interested in and wouldn't have a scooby do about but so what? There's nothing worse than some patronising twat talking down to you and making you feel small if you don't know something.

Anyway, all you have to do is a bit of research, an email or phone call to SAAS and you should have some answers. I totally believe in a free education for all but sadly think those days are long gone

[LadyBeagleEyes]

49CremeEggs. Like I say to my ds who's 17, read a paper every day and catch a news as well.
And when I say paper, avoid the tabloids, get a Herald, Scotsman, Times,etc there's so many to choose from, and there are regular news broadcasts at 6pm and 10pm.
Educate yourself, and I'm so so sorry if I sound patronising, I don't mean to, I just don't understand how you don't know about the Scottish Parliament

[MrsKeithRichards]

I genuinely believe my seven year old has a better understanding of devolution but that's because we have the news on at least once a day, we talk and debate and he picks up on things. Our parents were the same.

[ssd]

op, do you live in a bubble?? sheesh

tell me you're joking

[Southwest]

Yanbu to be gobsmacked
your gov is being unreasonable to set fees so high for th English and racist!!
Are the English a subset of Scotland though?

Don't understand why it is free for so many euro students though either

My game plan was to buy some cheap hut in Scotland so they would pay dcs fees took me embarrassingly too long to realize they would catch me out by where the dcs were schooled!!!!!

I've already advised the dcs to look to Europe or the States
Poor things they are in primary school!!!!

[RowanMumsnet]

Hello,

We realise we're a bit late to this thread, and that things have moved on now - but we just wanted to put in a bit of a plea for civility and cross-border niceness in these debates about the Independence referendum and other matters concerning relationships between the home nations.

Obviously there are going to be a lot of discussions about the referendum and the merits of the different positions, and as ever we fully expect MNers to get stuck in - but we can't help thinking it would be best if these debates could be articulated without resorting to insulting generalisations about any of the nationalities within the UK.

As you know, we like to let debate range as freely as possible, but in the interests of harmony on the board and our inbox we'd really appreciate a bit of peace and love on this topic - whatever your viewpoint.

[LadyBeagleEyes]

Hmm, OK Rowan.
But I bet your inbox is not full of English people being offended, in fact that would be a rare or almost non existent event and would be deleted sharply.
I think so many Scots on here who try to talk about our devolved Parliament, or Education fees or Independence even, have the worse insults that can legally be said, witthout it being deleted.
But WTF, we are not worthy.

[MrsKeithRichards]

I agree Lady, it seems those north of the border are fair game.

[Toadinthehole]

The first rule about responding to teasing is not to rise to the bait. I learned that in Scotland.

[FannyFifer]

Always the same Lady, it's rather tiresome.
It's the lack of "getting" why we are offended that is the most galling really.

[FannyFifer]

Being called Nazi's is not teasing.

[MissAnnersley]

Couldn't agree with you more Lady. This is just situation normal on MN. Any discussion around the political situation within Scotland degenerates almost immediately.

As for MNHQ - ' it would be best if these debates could be articulated without resorting to insulting generalisations about any of the nationalities within the UK.'

Really? I find that a generalisation. It is not Scottish posters doling out the insults.

[MrsKeithRichards]

Toad, being Scottish, banter is part of my manner, sit in a room with my besties and I and you'd think we hated each other by the way we talk to each other. I'm well versed in it.

As a nation, we aren't known for being po faced and taking offence. So when we do, it must be bad!

It also stinks because you hear so much about Scots being anti English yet I've seen no evidence of that. Quite the opposite. It's like a messy divorce, meant to be amicable until the hysterical partner starts throwing around insults in a 'well I never liked you anyway' kind of way.

[ssd]

I think the english should be more worried about devolution than us, is we become independant they've got the tories forever

maybe thats why they're being rude and insulting, its actually the fear talking