ABSTRACT
Since political and administrative devolution in the early 1990s, there has been considerable divergence in higher education policy across the four UK nations. In addition to different approaches to student funding, Scotland differs from the rest of the UK in relation to its use of the college sector as a major vehicle for the delivery of higher education. More than 20 per cent of higher education in Scotland, mainly in the form of sub-degree programmes, takes place in the college sector, as opposed to around 7 per cent in England. This chapter explores the pros and cons of the greater use of HNC/D to degree articulation routes in Scotland. Scottish colleges have been far more successful than universities in attracting students from less advantaged backgrounds, and this may be regarded as one of their strengths. However, the flip side of this is that students from more advantaged backgrounds claim a disproportionate share of places in the more selective universities, thus reinforcing their economic, social and cultural advantages.
