It is a “racing certainty” that the proposed levy on international student fees will eventually come into force in Scotland, despite policymakers previously ruling it out, vice-chancellors have predicted.

Peter Mathieson, principal and vice-chancellor of the University of Edinburgh, said that although the levy proposed by the Westminster government was a “terrible idea”, it was “quite clever” to link it to maintenance support.

Earlier this year, the Labour government promised to reintroduce grants for disadvantaged students taking certain priority subjects, funded by a tax on the fees paid by international students. Further details of the policy are due to be set out in November’s budget.

Although it would only apply to English universities in the first instance, there are questions about whether the levy would be adopted by other UK nations, particularly with elections coming up in Scotland and Wales.

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Speaking at the ����Vlog Student Success conference in Edinburgh, Mathieson shook off the idea that Scottish universities could benefit from an additional tax on English universities by being able to offer international students a lower price point, describing this as a “mirage”.

Although the Scottish government originally rejected the idea of introducing a levy, Mathieson suggested that Westminster’s proposal to link the tax to maintenance grants could change the situation, with the policy now becoming a “racing certainty” in Scotland as elections approach in 2026. 

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“I think the Scottish government, whoever it is, will want to have maintenance grants in Scotland at least equivalent to maintenance grants in the rest of the UK and they’re going to have a challenge of where to find the funding, and I think the linkage to the international student levy…is quite clever,” he said.

“In Scotland, it would work as a tax on Edinburgh, Glasgow and, to some extent, St Andrews and we would not be the major beneficiaries of it.”

Speaking on the same panel, Abertay University principal Liz Bacon agreed with Mathieson, saying the “no levy” commitment was “only for the next few months”.

“I think it’s a hugely risky strategy, especially when you have essentially the Westminster government trying to reduce the number of international students,” she continued.

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“I’m not really sure quite what their maths is behind the scenes, but if you’re trying to reduce the income stream, how that then magically balances with the maintenance needs going forward seems to me incredibly risky.”

Claire Taylor, vice-chancellor and chief executive officer at Plymouth Marjon University, described the proposed international fee levy as “problematic”.

“I think there’s an equity and a fairness issue here around potentially additionally taxing international students when there’s no direct benefit for them,” she said.

She also questioned the decision to focus maintenance grants on subjects related to government priority areas.

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“I’m not sure that’s going to feel particularly fair for students,” she said. Students will potentially be supported to study key areas of priority [such as] computing [and] engineering…but maybe not creative industries, maybe not history, not teaching, not youth work.

“Potentially it could actually backfire and reduce student choice and access if it’s not very carefully managed, and there’s all sorts of questions around the maintenance loan going forwards in relation to eligibility – just how poor does a student have to be to be able to access this?”

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helen.packer@timeshighereducation.com