Measures to aid rural students

Students do not have to travel to the central belt

A report is expected to recommend the creation of new outreach centres to increase access to higher education in Scotland's rural areas.

Lifelong Learning Minister Wendy Alexander will reveal the findings of the study into the possibility of establishing a South of Scotland University on Wednesday.

And she is expected to hold up the Crichton campus in Dumfries as a model for the future.

Wendy Alexander is visiting Dumfries

The south of Scotland does not have a university of its own.

However, it does already have some outreach centres - including the Scottish Borders campus of Heriot-Watt University, and the Crichton campus.

The latter is Scotland's only multi-university campus.

Students are offered the opportunity to study degree courses and gain additional training in Dumfries without having to travel to the central belt.

Glasgow University, Paisley University and the Open University all operate out of the same campus, alongside Bell College and Dumfries and Galloway College.

Learning opportunities

Ms Alexander is expected to praise the Crichton campus as a model for the future when she pays a visit to Dumfries and Galloway.

She believes that collaboration will be vital if distance learning opportunities are to be extended in rural areas.

Ms Alexander is also expected to highlight the economic importance of such centres - particularly to areas like Dumfries and Galloway, where many people have had to consider finding new skills in the wake of the foot-and-mouth crisis.

The bulk of Scotland's 180 confirmed cases of the disease were found in the region.