YEARS of “chronic underinvestment” by the Scottish government has left 11 of Scotland’s 24 colleges facing insolvency in the coming year, the sector’s umbrella body has warned.

In draft pre-budget submission to ministers, Colleges Scotland argues that if current funding arrangements hold, the money held by its members will fall by £37.9 million next year, plunging the sector into a £5m deficit.

The submission echoes warnings in recent weeks from both the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) and Audit Scotland of the “dire state of colleges’ finance following a 20 per cent real-term cut in funding since 2021.

Calling on the Scottish government to boost financial support in January’s budget or face the prospect of insolvencies, “significant job losses” and compulsory redundancies, Colleges Scotland’s Gavin Donoghue said: “Scotland’s colleges are at a fork in the road. 

“Chronic underinvestment over a number of years, as evidenced by the recent Audit Scotland report, has left institutions struggling to meet the needs of learners and local employers.

“If flat-cash funding continues, 11 colleges may be at risk of effective insolvency in the next academic year.

“Colleges are the skills engines of our economy and are already widely engaged in the collaborative effort to eradicate poverty. 

“Any additional money would not just be an investment in college education, it would be an investment in Scotland’s sustainable economic future.”

Acknowledging the “challenges facing the sector,” SNP Higher and further Education Minister Ben Macpherson responded: “Scotland’s colleges play such an important role in our economy and wider society, which is why the Scottish government, through the SFC, provided the sector with a 2.6 per cent increase in teaching funding and almost a 5 per cent increase in capital funding this year.”