'Investment in colleges is investment in Scotland's common good'

Walk into any college in Scotland and you will find vibrant communities in action.

You will meet school leavers taking their first steps towards a career, perhaps in engineering or finance. You could encounter parents returning to education after years away. You may see employees gaining new digital skills or technical knowledge to advance further in their workplace, or small business owners partnering with lecturers to train their next generation of staff.

You encounter a diversity of people working hard and purposefully to make their mark and fulfil their potential. Because colleges deliver in a multitude of ways for so many people, day after day, in every corner of our country.

By providing a 10% uplift in funding for the college sector in the proposed 2026-27 Budget - bringing total investment to £764 million - we will be investing in the institutions that deliver opportunity and drive economic growth across Scotland.

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Ben Macpherson, Scotland’s Minister for Higher and Further Education | Scottish Government

Colleges are anchor institutions in their communities. They do not simply teach; they shape local economies. In the Highlands, colleges train the workers who keep tourism and renewable energy thriving. In Glasgow and Edinburgh, they prepare young people for careers in digital industries, the creative sectors, engineering and financial services. In rural Aberdeenshire, they support the rural economy, oil and gas, and the transition to net zero. Wherever you are in Scotland, your local college is responding to the specific skills demands of your region, working hand in hand with employers to ensure their curriculum matches what the economy needs now, and what it will require in the future.

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This flexibility is what makes colleges so valuable. They tailor their offer in line with regional economic priorities, building the skilled workforce that businesses rely upon to grow and compete.

But colleges do more than serve employers - they transform lives. They provide education and training for learners from every background, at every stage of life, with every level of prior attainment. A college does not dwell on where you have been; it focuses on where you want to go. It gives people the opportunity to achieve their potential and obtain the qualifications they need to build fulfilling careers, or change career when that’s the right thing to do. Colleges often also provide a route to university, if that’s what the learner wants to do. And, significantly, colleges are a very important part of our growing apprenticeship system.

All of this matters for Scotland's economy and our collective future. The education and skills colleges deliver equips learners with the knowledge and skills our key sectors demand. From construction to care, hospitality to high technology, colleges are building the workforce Scotland needs to thrive.

We recognise the challenges the sector faces. Reports from Audit Scotland and the Scottish Funding Council have highlighted significant financial pressures, including from external factors.

We have responded by working collaboratively with the sector through the Tripartite Alignment Group, which since July 2023 has brought the Scottish Government, Scottish Funding Council and Colleges Scotland together as equal partners. This approach has delivered real results: a new funding model providing greater transparency, an asset disposals process allowing colleges to retain more proceeds from sales, and a College Transformation Framework giving colleges flexibility to adapt their delivery without losing core funding.

To support this collaborative work, the proposed Budget builds on support already provided, including increased teaching and capital maintenance funding for 2025-26 and additional resources for staff pay deals. The 10% uplift we announced in the proposed Budget goes further, demonstrating our commitment to a sector that contributes so much to communities and the economy alike.

I appreciate that challenges remain and we will keep working closely with colleges to explore what changes are needed to ensure the sector continues to play its important role in supporting communities and economic growth, throughout the years ahead and as we enter this next quarter of the 21st century.

Working with our colleges and supporting them, like we are in the proposed budget for 2026-27, is a collective investment in the common good of Scotland and our shared prosperity, both now and in the decades ahead.