English students who wish to study in Scotland will face increased tuiton fees of between £1,700 and £1,900, the Scottish Executive has announced.



Top-up fees, currently being debated in the House of Lords, will – if the bill is successful – be introduced in 2006, but only in England initially. MSPs fear a huge influx of English students if and when top-up fees are introduced south of the border.



Jim Wallace, the Scottish minister for lifelong learning, also promised loans of up to £3,000 for Scottish students who go to study in English universities.



Wallace said that the Executive had an "absolute priority to ensure that Scottish domiciled students were not disadvantaged as a result of the Westminster proposals".



Opponents claim the scheme will dissuade the best English students from coming to Scotland to study.



“Rubbish,” said a spokesman. “Graduates are moving to England after they finish university and Scotland is suffering as result. We have students of excellent calibre here and we want them to stay.”



Mark Ballard, higher education spokesman for the Scottish Green Party, welcomed the measures but said the executive should have opposed the charging of variable top up fees by English universities from the outset.



He added: "Undersubscribed courses in Scotland will be at a competitive disadvantage to those in England, who can charge no fees and attract more students, while those in Scotland that are already over or under subscribed will continue to be so."