SNP finance secretary Shona Robison’s claims of defending free education ring hollow as students count another year’s cost of further and higher education cuts, NUS Scotland said today.

Ms Robison renewed the Scottish government’s pledge to free tuition as she presented her draft Budget to MSPs on Wednesday, boasting of plans to boost funding to Scotland’s colleges and universities by 3.5 per cent.

But that claim has now been rubbished by NUS Scotland as they slam real-terms cuts to colleges and universities of 1.4 and 0.7 per cent respectively, and cuts to vital support for the poorest students.

NUS Scotland President Sai Shraddha S Viswanathan said: “Colleges, as cornerstones of working-class communities, are key to eradicating poverty — but are millions of pounds short of what they need to just get by.

“And despite an environment in which 34 per cent of students are struggling to pay rent and a fifth are missing lectures due to the cost of travel, promises to keep student support in line with the real living wage have been broken.

“Wednesday’s budget revealed a real-terms cut of 3.2 per cent to student support, meaning the poorest students will receive £570 less than it costs to survive.

“Politicians should be aware that when it comes to election time, students won’t support them if they don’t support us and bring robust, positive changes to the table — we deserve better than to be forgotten.”

Scottish Labour education spokeswoman Pam Duncan-Glancy, also challenging Ms Robison’s 3.5 per cent claim, added: “The finance secretary must come to the chamber and either explain the source of this dodgy claim or correct the record.

“The SNP must drop the spin and come clean about what its Budget really means.”

The Scottish government was contacted for comment.