The claims were categoric and designed to appeal directly to students across Scotland facing financial hardship.

In the run-up to the last Scottish Parliament election, the SNP promised to "dump the debt" and abolish student loans in favour of grants. The first pledge - essentially to service the £2bn of accumulated student loan debts - was an early casualty of the SNP-run administration.

Just six months after the Nationalists' election victory, John Swinney, the Finance Secretary, told the Scottish Parliament no funding would be allocated, blaming insufficient parliamentary support and a tight financial settlement.

The statement was met with universal derision across the opposition parties, who had always argued the pledge was impossible to deliver and was, therefore, little more than an election bribe.

Just over a year after Mr Swinney's first Scottish Budget speech, another manifesto pledge on student support is also now under the political microscope - the promise to abolish the "expensive and discredited student loans system with means-tested student grants".

Yesterday, Fiona Hyslop, the Education Secretary, unveiled the Scottish Government's consultation on the best way to move from student loans to grants - entitled Supporting a Smarter Scotland.

In her foreword to the document, Ms Hyslop is at pains to point out that the government's ideological commitment to grants rather than loans remains.

"The government believes that student loans are wrong for Scotland," the consultation document states. "We believe that it is wrong for students to be put into debt by the state. What is clear is that grants would provide a simpler system for students and allow them to engage in education without the fear of debt hanging over them."

However, a number of crucial caveats are picked out by the Education Secretary which, she warns, "may prevent us fully delivering on all our commitments".

These include a tight financial settlement, the fact student loans are funded by the Treasury and the political difficulties of operating a minority government. Because of this, as Mr Swinney announced last year, the consultation refers only to how the government could spend a pot of £30m on student support, when some estimates suggest a figure closer to £100m a year would be required to deliver the party's manifesto commitments.

Therefore, none of the options outlined in the document amount to the abolition of loans and, instead, are presented as first steps towards that long-term goal.

The limited scope of the consultation has reignited the ire of political rivals, but there has also been a reaction from students and lecturers. Viewed as isolated measures to help students, the consultation options on the provision of a minimum income or more targeted support for those most in need are welcome.

However, it is on the grand scale of the promises made at election time that the SNP is now being judged.

The party will argue rightly that it has taken a number of important steps to benefit students, from scrapping the graduate endowment fee to introducing a £38m package of grants for part-time learners in higher education, benefitting up to 20,000 students a year.

Gavin Lee, president of Glasgow University's students' representative council, reflected that positive view when he said yesterday: "We are very pleased the government is taking this step to ensure students can receive free, fair and funded education, but it is just that - a step in the right direction. More still needs to be done."

Depending on how many students feel the same way, the implications for the SNP at the next election could be significant.

The consultation, which is available at www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations will run until April 30 next year.

The consultation options - what to do with £30m

OPTION 1 - Begin transition towards a grants-based system 1a) Increase the existing Young Students' Bursary, which is currently available to students under the age of 25 whose combined parental income is less than £33,000. This could either be done by offering more money to those who already receive the bursary or by extending the upper limit.

1b) Extend the Young Students' Bursary to students over the age of 25 who no longer rely on their parents for support. There are currently 23,000 such students. Those on the minimum income of £17,835 would see grants of £2,575 per student.

1c) Offer grants to all students on higher education courses in further education colleges. There are currently 24,000 such students who receive £46m in loans.

OPTION 2 - Increase the minimum level of income available. The money available would increase the minimum income level to £5,500 for those from the lowest incomes compared to £5,100 now. Minimum income for the majority of students would increase from £4,510 to £5,000.

OPTION 3 - Increase income and reduce debt. A hybrid of the first two options, with more limited increases in income and additional bursaries targeted at those most in need.

Click here to comment on this story...