Ministers were yesterday accused of �laying the ground work for top-up fees� as student leaders attacked the amount of money the Scottish Government is spending on universities.

Ministers were yesterday accused of "laying the ground work for top-up fees" as student leaders attacked the amount of money the Scottish Government is spending on universities.

Senior figures within student unions at 10 universities also hit out at last week's announcement by John Swinney, the Finance Secretary, that the SNP would not fulfil its pre-election promise to service the debts of Scots students because there was not enough money to pay for it.

Opposition parties have accused the government of implementing a real terms cut in the amount of money it will spend on universities.

But the government has insisted that it is investing a larger slice of its budget in the higher education sector than the previous Labour/Liberal Democrat administration.

Angela Fraser, the president of Aberdeen University's student association, was among those who yesterday spoke out against the government.

She said: "The cut in funding could very well lead to disastrous implications for Scottish universities, including course closures, reduction in student welfare services and could potentially put a halt on future developments. This is the SNP laying the ground- work for top-up fees."

Kevin Ward, the deputy president of Strathclyde University's students' association, said: "The shortfall in funding for Scotland's universities has exacerbated concerns that institutions north of the border will not be able to compete with their English counterparts."

Student leaders were equally as vocal on the government's decision to ditch its commitment on student debt.

Tom D'Ardenne, the president of the students' association at St Andrews University, said: "The SNP's manifesto trumpeted the fact that It's time to dump the student debt'. To abandon the policy and point the finger of blame squarely at the Treasury for providing a tighter than expected budget is totally unacceptable."

Josh McAllister, the president of the Edinburgh University student association, added: "The SNP knew how much this pledge would cost before the election. To drop a £2bn promise that went a long way to getting them elected is a betrayal of the trust students put in the SNP."

Student leaders from Stirling, Dundee, Heriot-Watt, Aberdeen, Abertay and Glasgow universities, as well as the Edinburgh College of Art, also added their comments to a media release issued by the Labour Party.

Wendy Alexander, the Labour leader, said: "It's clear from the view of these student leaders that Scottish students feel let down by the SNP government over their promise to dump student debt ... it's one broken promise after another."

But a source close to the First Minister accused Labour of trying to "distort reality". The source said: "We are abolishing the graduate endowment and restoring the principle of free education in Scotland - removed by Labour - which will save all students graduating from this summer onwards over £2000. Labour is trying to block it, so its attack is utter hypocrisy.

"We are also moving from loans to grants, beginning with part-time students, and we have allocated £30m in 2011 to give grant assistance to full-time students."