Scotland¡¯s government has said that it will end free university tuition for European Union students starting courses in the country from September 2021 onwards.

Post-Brexit, maintaining free tuition beyond a transition period in 2020-21 ¡°would significantly increase the risk of any legal challenge¡±, higher education minister Richard Lochhead , since EU students would be getting treated differently to classmates from the rest of the world.

EU students starting courses from 2021-22 onwards will pay the same fees as other international students, which are typically significantly higher than the fees paid by students from the rest of the UK ¨C these are a maximum of ?9,250 a year at undergraduate level.

Mr Lochhead said that the decision had been taken with a ¡°heavy heart¡± and that students who had already started their studies, or were due to commence this autumn, would receive free tuition for the duration of their course.

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He said that the funding that had previously supported EU students at Scottish universities ¨C worth an estimated ?19 million in 2021-22 ¨C could instead be used to expand the number of places available to local students.

¡°That is the stark reality of Brexit and a painful reminder that our country¡¯s decisions are affected by UK policies that we do not support and did not vote for,¡± Mr Lochhead said.

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The Westminster government has previously announced that EU students?will no longer be eligible for home fee status and student loans in England from the 2021-22 academic year.

Also in his statement, Mr Lochhead said that Scottish universities would be able to begin a phased return to on-campus teaching using a blended learning model from 22 July. He said that the government was considering whether an exemption to the 2 metre rule on social distancing could be applied for universities, reducing it to 1 metre, on condition that ¡°agreed mitigations¡± were in place.

Mr Lochhead also said there were questions over whether the UK would be able to continue to participate in the Erasmus+ student mobility programme post-Brexit, stating that ¡°the signals¡­point towards a poor outcome for young Scots compared to the advantages previous generations enjoyed¡±.

Ministers were ¡°still not any clearer¡± about future UK participation in the EU¡¯s Horizon research funding programmes, Mr Lochhead added.

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chris.havergal@timeshighereducation.com