The Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee will conclude its work in March 2026 ahead of the next Scottish Parliament election. While it will continue to meet, the Committee has agreed it will not consider petitions submitted after 10 October. This is to ensure all petitions currently in the system can be considered before the next Scottish Parliament election. It is also unlikely that the Committee would be able to schedule and meaningfully progress petitions submitted after 10 October before the election. Contact the Committee team at petitions.committee@parliament.scot for more information about the petitions process.
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Closed petition PE2009: Ensure fair access to Scottish universities for all residents in Scotland and the UK
Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to ensure fair access to Scottish universities for residents in Scotland and the UK by reviewing university business models and Scottish Government funding arrangements.
Previous action taken
I have written to my MSP, Michael Marra who raised a question at FMQs. I was not satisfied with the answer.
Background information
Information published by Edinburgh University showed that 9 courses including Scots Law did not admit any students in Scotland from backgrounds that were not classified as “deprived’. A poor business model and a lack of funding has meant that a large swathe of the Scottish population have been shut out of Higher Education. The Scottish Government should ensure that funding constraints or other factors do not result in discrimination against any group or demographic. I would like the Scottish Government to properly consider this and how it could be addressed.
This petition was considered by the Scottish Parliament
4,575 signatures