Scottish Universities should be able to sell additional places to Scottish students in order to generate more income, a new report has claimed.

Conducted by the Fraser of Allander Institute at Strathclyde University, it suggests that in addition to filling a quota of government-funded places for Scottish students, Scottish universities should be free to offer a number of fee-paying places, wherever there is departmental capacity.

Professor Jim Love, author of the report, said that these up-front fees could range from £4,000 to £16,000 pounds a year.

His findings also explore the possibility of tuition fees or a graduate tax being levied at all Scottish students as a means of creating more financial revenue for Scottish universities, amidst fears that increased tuition fees across the rest of the UK could leave Scottish universities at a financial disadvantage.

The report claims that, “removal of control numbers and the associated clawback arrangements would allow universities to offer places on programmes to home or EU students currently denied access, provided they satisfy entry requirements,” whilst also allowing universities to develop “another channel for income growth”.

However, four of the five parties in the last parliament have ruled out any form of fees or graduate taxation, with all but the Scottish Conservatives committing to free higher education in their election manifestos.

Universities Scotland director Alastair Sim said that the report contains some ”interesting ideas” but admitted that as, “four of the five main parties have now ruled out contributions of any kind from students or graduates, the focus now needs to be on Scotland’s politicians stepping up to the mark to find the public funding necessary to keep our Scottish universities competitive with those in England.”