Scottish universities face fines for breaching poor pupil quotas But Mr Russell was last night warned against making a scapegoat of universities for ministers" failure to drive up standards in schools in deprived areas. Alistair Sim, director of Universities Scotland, said the higher education sector has already signed agreements with the Scottish Funding Council to widen access. "However, the biggest obstacle to widening access to university and one which must be overcome if we are to see a step-change in access at university, is to close the attainment gap caused by poverty in children from as young as five," he said. The Education Secretary has previously stated he wants to see action on access to university but prefers a carrot, rather than stick, approach. We think this is the right approach. Liz Smith, Scottish Tory education spokesman, added: "The way to sort this out is not targets for universities but to improve the school system so they don't have this problem in the first place." The motion has been tabled by Stewart Maxwell, a former Scottish minister and convener of Holyrood's education committee, and Marco Biagi, the Edinburgh Central MSP. It has been included in the draft agenda for the SNP's October conference in Perth, which was distributed to members earlier this week. A Scottish Executive spokesman said talks were continuing between Mr Russell and universities.