Watchdog warns Scotland's colleges face increasing financial pressure

Financial pressures on Scotland's colleges are increasing, a watchdog has warned, with the further education sector reporting a deficit for the third year in a row.

A new report said the country's 19 colleges had an overall deficit of £5.6m in 2024-25, up from £1.9m in the previous 12 months.

The worsening financial situation was said to be the result of increasing costs - including staff and energy - not being matched by increases in funding.

Public spending watchdog Audit Scotland said funding to colleges had decreased by more than 7% in real terms in the five years to 2026-27.

The Scottish government increased resource funding for colleges by more than 9% in 2026-27.

But the report said: "It is not clear if the uplift in funding is sufficient or if it will be sustained for colleges to deliver the level of reform needed in the college sector."

With colleges coming under financial pressure, the report revealed the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) had had to increase cash advances to colleges, with these rising from £5.4m in 2023-24 to £13.9m the following year.

In 2024-25, 11 of Scotland's 19 colleges had a deficit - up from eight the previous year.

Audit Scotland reported four colleges had a deficit of £1m or more and 10 saw a deterioration in their financial performance.

Overall, the SFC had assessed more than half of colleges as being at very high or high financial risk, the report added.

Eight were classed as being "financially at very high risk", while a further six were "assessed as at high risk".

That comes despite colleges having reduced their staff numbers in a bid to cut costs, with the report saying the workforce fell by more than 11% over two years to 12,575 in 2024-25.

Voluntary severance schemes, said to be the "principal means of reducing staff costs", cost colleges £7.2m in 2024-25 alone.

But the report said: "Staff costs at colleges are rising despite most colleges using voluntary severance schemes in 2024-25.

"Despite the reductions made to the college workforce over the last two years, staff costs have increased and still account for two-thirds of college expenditure (67%)."

The spending watchdog said action on recommendations it had made a year ago was "only at the early stages".

Audit Scotland said it had outlined eight areas where the Scottish government, the SFC and colleges needed to act "to deliver a sustainable college sector that is responsive to Scotland's social and economic needs".

But it said: "Many of these are only at the early stages of implementation."

Eilidh Henderson, 20, is studying at South Lanarkshire College.

She told BBC Scotland News: "I chose to come to college because I had quite a difficult time at school.

"I found that coming to college gave me a lot more confidence to be able to speak my mind and talk out in class.

"It would be quite concerning to have that safety net then ripped out from underneath you."

Kaitlyn Toner, 22, is on an HND counselling course at the same college.

"College offers such a variety of different levels of education," she said.

"It offers that space to come in and decide if further education is for you and you're really supported in that as well."

She feels college has given her options and added: "When I leave I don't even have to go to university - I can just go right into the workforce which is really important.

"I don't think we should be cutting courses because we're really low on people's chances to come and learn."

Stephen Boyle, Auditor General for Scotland, said: "The financial pressure on Scotland's colleges is increasing, and their situation remains extremely challenging.

"Without urgent and successful reform of the sector, it's not clear if colleges can continue to deliver for students and employers."

Boyle added that the recommendations he made in 2025 remained important but were "still in the early stages of being addressed".

He warned: "The Scottish government, Scottish Funding Council and colleges need to take action to implement them at pace."

He told the BBC's Radio Scotland Breakfast that although there had been an increase in funding of 9.3%, it was still 7.5% lower in real terms over a five-year period.

He added that the number of students attending colleges had dropped by 40,000 in the past two years which dramatically affected income.

"The sector needs clarity," he said. "This feels like a difficult period and until that pace increases and that clarity comes they are living with uncertainty and that needs to end soon."

Gavin Donoghue, chief executive of Colleges Scotland, said the report "recognises the extremely challenging financial position colleges continue to operate in".

He said: "During 2024-25, an increasing number of colleges needed to rely on short-term support to balance the books.

"This is a clear sign of a sector still under considerable financial pressure."

He told BBC Scotland: "The risk is to the Scottish economy. There's been a reduction of 40,000 students over the last two years who have not been able to access the benefits of a college education.

"If we don't have a strong college system supporting our economy and also supporting our communities then we are never going to sustainably grow our economy."

Keir Greenaway, of the GMB Scotland union, said: "The auditor general is ringing another alarm bell over college funding but too many have been ignored for too long.

"The sector should be driving economic prosperity but without support or strategic planning, is struggling to deliver for students or Scotland."

Scottish Labour tertiary education spokeswoman Jenny Young said: "These stark figures lay bare the pressure Scottish colleges are under as a result of SNP cuts.

"Colleges can be engines of opportunity and growth, but the SNP has cut them to the bone."

Minister for Tertiary Education Alyn Smith said the report recognised "both the challenges facing the college sector and the key contributions they make economically".

"We recognise that challenges remain sector wide," he said. "That is why through the College Sector of the Future, we are re-designing colleges to be more sustainable, resilient, and high-quality, to meet Scotland's economic and social needs.

"We are actively supporting the sector by increasing the college budget by 10% this year, alongside supporting a range of measures that strengthen colleges' financial sustainability and operational flexibility."

He added that the government had been working closely with the SFC and the sector to provide greater flexibility, including support for workforce costs.

"We also provided funding that enabled SFC to support colleges in developing business cases for transformational capital investment projects," he said.

He told BBC Scotland: "The world of work is changing at pace and the colleges are absolutely the jewel in the crown of the skills agenda."

He added that apprenticeships and lifelong learning were an important part of the government's strategy.

"I'm really positive about Scotland's colleges' future," he added.