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Colleges claim £74m funding hit will reduce student places

SCOTLAND'S colleges reacted with anger last night after John Swinney announced savage cuts of £74 million to the sector.

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC), which distributes public money on behalf of the Government, will see its budget for colleges drop from £545m this year to £471m in 2014/15.

However, while colleges were one of the biggest losers in the Budget, long-held fears that universities would fall behind rivals in England following the introduction of higher tuition fees appear to have been quashed – at least in the short term.