University intake targets for Paramedic Education 2024-25
Purpose
- I am writing to announce the university intake targets for BSc Paramedic Education programmes for the Academic Year (AY) 2024-25.
Background
- SFC confirmed the funded student places and the associated funding with this programme in our final funding announcement for AY 2024-25, which was published at the end of May 2024.
- The five Scottish universities that have previously been awarded contracts to provide Paramedic Education – Glasgow Caledonian University, Queen Margaret University Edinburgh, Robert Gordon University, University of Stirling and University of the West of Scotland – will continue to deliver this programme.
- In setting this intake target, SFC received guidance from the Scottish Government’s Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) Directorate. Last year, for the first time, the CNO Directorate set a three-year intake target, covering the periods AY 2023-24, AY 2024-25 and AY 2025-26. Although this is the second of a three-year plan, Ministers reserve the right to review and adjust intake targets should this be required.
- The CNO Directorate’s guidance for the final two years of this plan is provided as Annex A.
Intake target for AY 2024-25
- The overall intake target for Paramedic Education in AY 2024-25, as recommended by the CNO Directorate, is 335 students with ‘Home Fee’ status. This represents no change from the intake target for AY 2023-24 and is as set out in the three-year plan. The AY 2024-25 intake targets for each of the five universities are set out in Table 1 below.
Rest of UK and international students
- The intake targets contained within this announcement are for students with ‘Home Fee’ status. Universities can recruit rest of UK (rUK), Republic of Ireland (RoI) and international students, but should discuss any recruitment with the Scottish Ambulance Service and placement providers before doing so. RUK, RoI and international students cannot be counted against the intake targets.
Monitoring
- Universities should return information on students on their Paramedic Education programmes to SFC through their annual Early Statistic Returns. Details of the information required will be published in the annual Early Statistic Returns Notes of Guidance on the SFC website.
- We would expect universities to continue to work with NHS Educations for Scotland (NES) and provide information as required for their performance management role. Scottish Government colleagues will write to universities in due course to set out further details of the reporting requirements for NES’s performance management.
Under-recruitment policy
- SFC will continue to operate an under-recruitment policy for the Paramedic Education programme in AY 2024-25 and we may recover funding if universities under-recruit against their funded student places, subject to a tolerance of 3%. This is subject to consideration of any mitigating evidence presented by universities.
- If a university recruits below the tolerance threshold, SFC will write to them setting out the potential funding to be recovered and to request details of any mitigating circumstance, before a final decision is made on whether any funding is to be recovered. If it is agreed that recovery should take place, we will recover Main Teaching Grant equivalent to that associated with the recruitment below the tolerance threshold.
Over-recruitment policy
- SFC will continue to operate an over-recruitment (‘consolidation’) policy for Paramedic Education in AY 2024-25. Universities may be liable for a financial penalty if they exceed their ‘consolidation number’ by more than 10%. This is subject to consideration of any mitigating evidence presented by universities.
- If a university recruits above the tolerance threshold, SFC will write to them setting out the potential financial penalty to be applied and to request details of any mitigating circumstance before a final decision is made. If it is agreed that any financial penalty should be applied, the penalty will reflect the additional tuition fee income associated with those students recruited above the tolerance threshold.
Further information
- Please contact Duncan Condie, Senior Funding Policy Officer, Finance Directorate, tel: 0131 313 6671, email dcondie@sfc.ac.uk.
Table 1: Breakdown of university intake targets for Paramedic Education in AYs 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26
| University | Intake target for AY 23-24 | Intake target for AY 24-25 | Intake target for AY 25-26 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glasgow Caledonian University | 67 | 67 | 67 |
| Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh | 67 | 67 | 67 |
| Robert Gordon University | 67 | 67 | 67 |
| University of Stirling | 67 | 67 | 67 |
| University of the West of Scotland | 67 | 67 | 67 |
| Total | 335 | 335 | 335 |
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