By Selina McLean

The Scottish Government have commissioned a report looking into student finance in a bid to close the attainment gap and make further and higher education more accessible to a wider range of people.

It is recommended that students receive a minimum income of £8,100 and means-tested funded is changed to accommodate students that don’t receive subsidised payments from their household incomes as well as changes to the method in which debt is paid or written off.

Conservative MP for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock Bill Grant said: “Who would fund £8000? It sounds very good being funded until you have to pay the £8000 back.”

The review included over 3,500 students across many different educational institutions, and so the UWS Newsroom spoke to students at the Ayr campus to see how this would affect them:

Amy is a third year student she says: “I think this would be a benefit, if there’s something that the whole student body can have. Things like household income can put people at a disadvantage, I know my parents don’t subsidise me and SAAS isn’t enough to cover my rent, petrol, insurance, there’s a lot to pay for so I think it’ll be good if that’s what students set out having.”

Nat is a third year from Switzerland she says: “I think we all worry, but yes we need that £8000. I don’t struggle too much but I worry like everyone else.”

Alex is a second year he says: ” through the circumstances of my family household income I’m not receiving any money, I am quite worried about money and it’s very stressful, there are a lot of costs to be here. If I thought there was a job doing what I want to do, I’m thinking long term and I didn’t think there would be any jobs for me long-term from this course immediately then I probably would just disappear because I’m not receiving any money to be here.”