Tunbridge Wells law firm joins Scottish uni fees debate

Knights Solicitors says current system breaches the Equality Act

A Tunbridge Wells law firm has said Scotland is breaking the law by charging students from elsewhere in the UK for university degrees.

Knights Solicitors has waded into the row over the current system, which allows undergraduates from Scotland and elsewhere in the EU to get their education for free.

Senior partner Matthew Knight said: “While the Scottish Government might have survived a challenge under the European Convention on Human Rights – Article 14, the Equality Act 2010 clearly outlaws this policy.”

Undergraduates from England, Wales and Northern Ireland are currently charged between £1,820 and £2,895 per year to study for a Scottish university degree. Next year, that figure is set to increase to up to £9,000.

However, under EU rules, students coming to Scotland from other European countries cannot be charged tuition fees because they have to be treated in the same way as Scottish students.

The Scottish government has argued that the current system is lawful because the differences in fees are based on domicile, rather than nationality.

Mr Knight said: “The claim is that it is right to deny equal treatment to English students due to England, Wales and Northern Ireland not being classified as ‘states’ since EU law only forbids discrimination by one EU state against another. But the Scottish government clearly has failed to realise that the Equality Act 2010 applies to the policy.

“The Equality Act 2010 part 6 – chapter 2 covers ‘Further and Higher Education’ and in section (1) it clearly states that ‘The responsible body of an institution must not discriminate against a person as to the terms on which it offers to admit the person as a student’.”

A 19-year-old student from Rochester has been leading a campaign, Make Uni Fees Equal, to lobby for a fair system.

Jennifer Watts, who starts a politics and law degree at Manchester University in September, has said it is wrong to create such a “discrimatory regime” that leaves English students disadvantaged.

Leading human rights lawyer, Phil Shiner, of Public Interest Lawyers, has taken up the case. He has said that he believes Scottish ministers have “misinterpreted the law”.