SATISFACTION amongst students at Scottish universities is much higher than those attending institutions in England, according to a new survey.

Some 70 per cent of undergraduates at Scottish institutions - who don't pay tuition fees - believe they are receiving good or very good value for money compared with only 41 per cent in England where fees are typically £9,000 a year.

One-sixth of first and second-year students from the UK studying at institutions in England believed their course represented very poor or poor value for money in 2012 - and that figure has now risen to one-third.

Nick Hillman, director of the Higher Education Policy Institute, which conducted the survey, said: "The data suggest growing differences across the UK. Students in Scotland generally think they are getting good value for money.

"Meanwhile, in England, one-in-three students say they are getting poor value for money - nearly twice as high as before the £9,000 fees were introduced.

"In this election year, students should press all the political parties to say what they will do to encourage universities to offer world-class teaching alongside their world-class research."

The findings are part of the latest Student Academic Experience survey which questioned more than 15,000 full-time undergraduates about their university experiences. It found that the vast majority of students - some 86 per cent - are fairly or very satisfied with the overall quality of their course, but almost a third said they would definitely, or maybe, have chosen another course if they could pick again.