There were a number of shocks that hit the university in the academic year of 2024/25, Gillespie tells the committee.

One of these was Racc (reinforced autoclave concrete), he says.

A second shock was the increase in employer National Insurance contributions.

The third shock was missing the Scottish domestic student intake - which was "very disappointing" - and the number of international student numbers coming down.

Ross asks how Gillespie and his team got things “so wrong” in relation to a major breach of finances within the university.

He says Gillespie had “blamed other people” and was “ducking his responsibility”.

Gillespie says that he had “delegated” duties to inform the funding council to the finance director who he “wrongly assumed” would do so.

He says that he failed in his role to “take responsibility” as accounting officer and principal of the university.

Gillespie says the first time he was aware that the university had breached its covenant with its bank in 2023 was in last week's Gillies Report.

Ross asks him to repeat this as "I can't believe what you've just said".

The Tory MSP and committee chairman adds: "How can that be if you are the accountable officer? Were people not telling you the truth, were they withholding information from you?

"Or were you not in the university or country enough to hear these concerns?"

Gillespie replies: "This was never, ever reported to me - to my knowledge it was never reported to the finance committee."

He says his knowledge of the issue was "very poor and very weak."

Prof Iain Gillespie became principal and vice-chancellor of Dundee University in January 2021.

He arrived at the university with a background in science and technology, specifically the life sciences.

In November, he emailed all of the university's staff warning of a significant financial deficit and said that job cuts would be "inevitable".

Gillespie came under fire after Dundee University defended a trip he took with a colleague to Hong Kong in 2023. The Courier revealed, external that the two-night stay cost more than £7,000.

He quit less than two weeks later.

Last week an independent report, external from the Scottish Funding Council said the university's financial woes were "self-inflicted" and it should have been clear to senior members of the university that its financial position "was worse than presented".

It said Gillespie had an "overbearing leadership style" and a dislike of potentially awkward confrontations or questioning.

The report also claimed he frequently demonstrated hubris - or excessive pride - in his role, which it said can lead to a contempt towards people who offer criticism, and an obsession with personal image and status.

Douglas Ross says Gillespie got £150,000 to "walk away from a university you almost destroyed".

The professor pushes back against this, and says his departure was agreed with the chair of court.

Image source, Scottish Parliament

Douglas Ross says that Gillespie was a coward and "just walked away into the sunset" when he quit his job by text message.

Gillespie - who insists he tendered his resignation in an email - says the accusation of being a coward "is for other people to comment on, I don't think I'm a coward."

Asked about his pay-off from the university of an estimated £150,000, he says it was a contractual matter.

Ross asks if he ever considered paying the money back.

Gillespie replies: "That was a contractual obligation from my employer to me.

"It was not in my thought process to repay a financial obligation."

Gillespie says that was no lying or mendacity over his conduct.

He says he accepted his view of the university finances was "incorrect" and that he "did not have a full picture".

The former principal says resigned in December as "the buck stops here".

Gillespie says that when he joined Dundee University in 2021 it had "gone through difficult times and had lost its confidence".

He says he and his team wanted to restore that confidence.

The independent report, external found the main causes for the deficit included poor financial judgement from university bosses and weak governance from the university court, which is meant to hold senior management to account.

It found that almost £40m of ringfenced money had been spent elsewhere and there had been "a lack of real action" to address an £8m "hole" due to a fall in international student recruitment.

The report said that those in charge of the university's governance should have known well before November last year that there was a problem.

In the wake of the report's publication, the principal Prof Shane O'Neill resigned.

He was identified in the report along with former principal Prof Iain Gillespie, the chief operating officer and the director of finance as one of the university leaders who "did not cultivate a culture of openness and challenge at all levels".

Tricia Bey, acting chair of the university court, and Carla Rossini, convenor of the finance & policy committee, also left the university with immediate effect.

Gilliespie says the Gillies Report was a "forensic piece of work", but he "does not recognise" the description of his management style.

He says he was "always a champion of Dundee University"

Committee chairman Douglas Ross opens the questioning of Prof Gillespie by saying the Gillies Report into the the running of the university was "damning and particularly scathing" about the former principal.

Gillespie says students and staff deserved better from their university, and he says he offers a "heart-felt apology".

In November, at a time when many Scottish universities were experiencing budget woes, Dundee University told staff that job cuts were "inevitable" as it faced a "significant deficit".

The university's then principal Prof Iain Gillespie quit less than two weeks later and it emerged that the university had a £35m blackhole.

Staff were informed of plans to cut 632 posts - about 20% of the workforce - by then interim principal Prof Shane O'Neill at a meeting in March.

Union members voted in favour of three weeks of strike action in the face of potential compulsory redundancies.

The cuts were later scaled back to about 300 voluntary redundancies.

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) approved a £22m support package in April and a further £40m was confirmed this week.

And last week Prof O'Neill and two senior members of the university's governing body quit after a damning report revealed it's financial woes were "self-inflicted".

The evidence session is under way, and Prof Gillespie opens by apologising to University of Dundee staff and students.

Image source, University of Dundee

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of Holyrood's education committee as it continues its inquiry into the financial mismanagement of the University of Dundee.

The university currently faces a £35m deficit and has said it must cut 300 jobs through a voluntary redundancy scheme.

An independent report,, external published last week, said university bosses and its governing body failed multiple times to identify the worsening crisis and continued to overspend instead of taking action.

This morning's evidence session is with Prof Iain Gillespie, the former principal and vice-chancellor of the university.

Prof Gillespie resigned with immediate effect in December after telling staff the previous month that job losses were "inevitable".

The evidence session begins at 08:30 and we'll bring you reports and analysis throughout. You can watch the committee live by clicking on the Watch Live icon at the top of the page.