New Higher Education and Destinations of Leavers statistics have shown that the number of qualified graduates from Scottish institutions has risen by four per cent.

The figures for Scottish higher education institutions for 2006-07 reveal that the number of qualifiers reached a record high of 77,380, while the proportion of qualified graduates achieving permanent employment increased by two per cent to 81 per cent.

The statistics further showed that the number of Scottish qualifiers permanently employed in Scotland is now sitting at 92 per cent – an increase of two per cent.

Although welcoming the increases, Conservative education spokesperson Murdo Fraser has raised concern about the impact on the future funding of these institutions in Scotland.

“With the abolition of the graduate endowment, and the advent of top-up fees south of the border, a ‘funding gap’ for Scottish universities could mean that they potentially find it very difficult to compete in terms of research, resources and even staff; losing some of their best academics to better funded institutions.

"Institutions in Scotland could be forced to recruit increasing numbers of international students in order to fund this monetary gap. This trend seems to be apparent in the publication of these statistics, which showed the number of qualifications obtained by international students increasing by 17%."

The figures revealed that the number of qualifications gained by international students increased from 12,725 to 14,895.