SCOTTISH universities are facing a funding squeeze that threatens their international status and ability to meet a government target on widening access, a leading figure in higher education has warned.

Colin Campbell, head of policy and planning for Stirling University, blamed a cut in funding of more than three per cent for 2016/17 for a "gloomy" outlook.

He also warned that universities in Scotland are likely to fall even further behind their counterparts in England if they are allowed to charge more than £9,000 in tuition fees.

However, the Scottish Government hit back arguing the sector was well supported with more than £1 billion of funding for 2016/17.

The warnings come just days after Dundee University said it would have to consider cuts after forecasting a deficit of up to £10 million by the end of 2017.

Dundee principal Professor Sir Peter Downes blamed the latest Scottish Government funding settlement combined with increases in staff pay, pensions and national insurance contributions.

Writing in The Herald, Mr Campbell said the sector had already delivered over £200 million of efficiencies in the three years to 2015.

He said: "What is emerging is a growing gap between policy ambitions for the sector and the development of a sustainable funding model. In the longer-term, this will impact on the delivery of key policy aims to widen access and support world-class institutions.

"Looking ahead, the funding gap across the UK will continue to grow if English providers are able to charge variable fees in future years, and will inevitably raise questions about different levels student experience across the devolved administrations.

"The funding squeeze in Scotland may lead to further unintended consequences as secondary schools, colleges and universities work together for a more cohesive learner journey. Urgent thinking is needed to establish a sustainable trajectory of funding necessary to support a world-leading and widely accessible higher education sector."

Mr Campbell went on to warn that without additional funding to create more places for Scottish students the aspiration of widening access would impact on middle class students.

He said: "In a system of finite places for Scottish students, growth in one demographic will inevitably lead to the displacement of places from another demographic.

"In other words, universities can do more to raise aspirations and attract more applications from under-represented groups, but there can be no net increase in the total number of offers made."

Iain Gray, education spokesman for the Scottish Labour Party, said higher education budgets were being squeezed alongside those of colleges and schools.

He added: "Grants for poorer students have been slashed, last year funding for innovation was cut and this year universities face cuts of over three per cent.

"Young people from poorer families are far less likely to get to university than in England or Wales. This is exactly why the SNP were wrong to vote down Scottish Labour's call to protect education budgets in Parliament last week."

However, a Scottish Government spokeswoman said ministers had invested over four billion pounds in the higher education sector over the last four years.

She added: "Notwithstanding a very tough budget round, we will continue to invest over £1 billion in our higher education institutions in 2016/17.

"This ensures that all of our institutions receive financial support to enable them to deliver high quality teaching, world class research and knowledge exchange, and provides a stable base which helps them to attract additional funding from a wide range of sources.

“Entry to higher education in Scotland is based on the ability to learn, not the ability to pay and the Scottish Government is helping over 120,000 students studying in Scotland this year by not charging fees."