Oxford sets up £22,000 funding package to attract more Scottish students

Oxford University is offering up to £22,000 of financial support per student from Scotland in a bid to encourage more applications, particularly from low-income families. 

Prospective students will be able to apply for a mixture of bursaries and fee waivers in what is believed to be one of the biggest no-strings packages offered by any English university. 

From this October, students at most English universities will face fees of £9,000 a year, but Scottish students currently pay no fees at universities in Scotland so the English fee system is thought to be likely to deter students from applying to English institutions - this year 9.3% (3,975) of Scottish university applicants applied to English universities, indicating a drop of 1.4%.

Baroness Helena Kennedy, a Glasgow-born lawyer who is now Principal of Mansfield College, urged more Scots to consider applying to Oxford, including those at state schools.

She said: 'In tutorials the ratio of tutors to students is 1:1 or 1:2 which surpass expectations anywhere else. The demands that are made of you prepare you for anything else in life.

'I want to make sure these opportunities are not the preserve of the elite... to be available to the brightest and best everywhere.'

NUS Scotland president Robin Parker said: 'Other English institutions should follow suit to ensure that the eye wateringly high fees imposed by the Westminster government can be reduced for those from the poorest backgrounds.'

Full story on the BBCScotland website, and for more information on student finances see the Complete University Guide's own up-to-date Fees and Finance Guide pages