NEW figures highlighting the unprecedented squeeze on funding for Scottish colleges have raised fresh fears over the future quality of courses.

According to calculations based on official Scottish Funding Council (SFC) figures, the amount of public money being spent per college student will have fallen by more than 9% since 2010/11.

That means the basic unit of funding per student for an average course will drop from £207 to £188 between 2010/11 and 2012/13.

And estimates suggest that – if funding continues to fall at predicted rates – student spending could drop by as much as 17% by 2014/15.

The cut, which is part of a total funding reduction of £74 million by 2014/15, comes at a time when Scotland is grappling with the highest level of youth unemployment for a generation.

College staff are already bracing themselves for a wave of job cuts as the Scottish Government presses ahead with plans for a series of regional mergers.

Michael Russell, the Education Secretary, believes significant sums can be saved by rationalising provision, offsetting the current cuts.

In addition, it has been argued that removing unnecessary tiers of management as part of restructuring can also deliver savings for the frontline. However, last night sector figures warned that maintaining student numbers without sufficient funding would lead to larger class sizes, reduced teaching time and greater staff workload.

David Belsey, national officer for further education for the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) teaching union, said: "Last year, the SFC reduced the number of hours colleges need to teach full-time students and the sector saw a thousand workers leave.

"These funding cuts will cause more redundancies and further undermine colleges' ability to deliver the education needed for increasing numbers of unemployed people. The EIS is concerned at the continued slashing of college funding, and fears that a whole generation of students and staff may suffer as a result."

John Henderson, chief executive of Scotland's Colleges, which represents principals, said: "Colleges worked hard in the last year to become as efficient as they can, to maintain teaching activity at the same level despite funding cuts, and prevent there being an impact on their students.

"As the amount of teaching funding available to colleges is squeezed over the next three years, there will be risks to the sector's ability to maintain both excellence and breadth."

Robin Parker, president of NUS Scotland, which represents students, also raised the prospect of damage to quality. "We're very concerned that cuts to colleges could mean cuts to the quality of college education," he said.

"We know already that cuts have led to fewer courses, less contact time and larger classes.

"The Scottish Government has protected college places at close to the same level as last year, which is very welcome, and there may well be savings generated by restructuring the college sector over the coming years, but it's hard to see where colleges can make enough efficiencies to avoid these cuts harming college students."

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "We believe the funding allocated to our colleges will protect quality of teaching and maintain provision."