As student leaders sent a letter to Scotland’s education secretary warning of increasing student hardship, a principal has said debt was a major barrier to students from deprived backgrounds.

According to a newspaper report the letter from student presidents from colleges and universities across Scotland, and also signed by NUS Scotland and opposition politicians told education secretary, Fiona Hyslop, that policies had failed to address the issue of hardship.

“We believe the government has not grasped that student hardship is the overriding priority for students in Scotland,” it stated.

But college principal, Howard McKenzie, wrote in a letter published in a newspaper that his experience was quite different.

Given his first-hand knowledge of the issue he argued that the real problem faced by students was debt.

“As a principal I see 8000 students with an average age of 32, I see first-hand, year-on-year, the problem students face with debt,” he explained.

He added that thousands of potential students were denied the opportunity of education as they tried to avoid this financial burden.