Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister, has said that education is the number one priority for the Scottish Government. NUS Scotland is asking the Scottish Government to make this a reality by investing in better support for Scotland’s students. We’re calling for: 

Budget for Increased Bursaries

The current student support system is broken. The poorest students in higher education are forced to take the greatest debt, while further education students have no guarantees that they’ll be entitled to any financial support. NUS Scotland is calling for serious new investment in bursary support for both further and higher education students - so that they are supported to succeed wherever they study.

Budget for a Better Deal for Graduates
Students taking out loans in Scotland get a raw deal. Currently, students start repaying loans once they earn over £17,775. This threshold is substantially lower than in England and Wales, where a graduate needs to earn above £25,000 before paying back their loan. NUS Scotland is calling for a better deal for Scotland’s graduates – starting with an immediate increase to the loan repayment threshold.

Budget for Mental Health Support
Drastically different levels of mental health support are available to students based on where they study with under provision of services being a particular problem at colleges. We are calling for the Scottish Government to dedicate new, ring fenced funding to establish a universal level of counselling provision and mental health support at all of Scotland’s colleges and universities.

 

Get involved

We're asking students and members of the public to contact their local MSPs using our online form to ask them to support our Budget for Better campaign. Not only will this send an email to your constituency MSP and up to 7 regional MSPs, we’re also including Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister, in all of these emails.   

Email the First Minister and your local MSPs using our online form now (will go live 4 December) 

 

Resources

Budget for Better campaign pack	Budget for Better sign up sheets	MSP breakdown for students' associations
Budget for Better leaflet	Budget for Better logo	Template press release

If you're having problems accessing any of the resources or need the Budget for Better logo in different sizes please contact mail@nus-scotland.org.uk.