Scottish Funding Council
Scottish public body that funds the country's colleges and universities.
Five of Scotland's 19 incorporated colleges needed cash advances from the Scottish Funding Council in 2024-25, up from two a year earlier, Audit Scotland reported on 10 September 2026.
Last refreshed: 7 October 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Why did five of Scotland's 19 colleges need cash advances in 2024-25?
Timeline for Scottish Funding Council
Advanced cash to five incorporated colleges in 2024-25
Is Britain Actually Broke?: Holyrood booked £1.1bn of ScotWind drawsBackground
The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) is the public body that funds Scotland's colleges and universities. Besides its routine grants, it is the body a college short of cash turns to for an advance.
Audit Scotland's report "Scotland's colleges 2026", published on 10 September 2026, shows that call on the council growing. Five of the 19 incorporated colleges needed cash advances from the SFC in 2024-25, against two in 2023-24. Together the 19 colleges ran a deficit of £5.6m in 2024-25.
The squeeze comes from the money the council passes on. Audit Scotland found college funding 7% below its 2021 level in real terms, even after a 9% increase in 2026, and the colleges' workforce 13% smaller than in 2019.
