The Commissioner's Role and Responsibilities

Sir Professor Peter Scott was appointed Scotland’s first Commissioner for Fair Access in December 2016.

The Commissioner is independent of government and responsible for leading a system wide effort to deliver fair access in Scotland, including the development of a framework for fair access.

He provides impartial policy advice to the Scottish Government and other organisations and works across the entire education system to:

develop best practice
improve the evidence base
hold to account all those with a role in advancing fair access to higher education

The Commissioner holds a non-statutory role. He is not an ombudsman or regulator and is not able to take forward individual cases.

The functions of the Commissioner for Fair Access are to:

lead cohesive and system wide efforts to drive fair access in Scotland; acting as an advocate for access for disadvantaged learners and holding to account those with a role to play in achieving equal access, including ministers and the Scottish Funding Council (SFC)

co-ordinate and prioritise the development of a more substantial evidence base on the issues most pertinent to fair access, including the commissioning and publication of independent research and the development of a framework for fair access

publish an annual report to ministers outlining the Commissioner’s views on progress towards equal access in Scotland to inform development of effective policy at national, regional and institutional level