Universities in Scotland

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Marischal College, Aberdeen
Further information: List of universities in Scotland and Universities in the United Kingdom

There are fifteen

universities in Scotland
and three other institutions of higher education that have the authority to award academic degrees.

The first university college in Scotland was founded at

Restoration
there was a purge of Presbyterians from the universities, but most of the intellectual advances of the preceding period were preserved. The Scottish university colleges recovered from the disruption of the civil war years and Restoration with a lecture-based curriculum that was able to embrace economics and science, offering a high-quality liberal education to the sons of the nobility and gentry.

In the eighteenth century the universities went from being small and parochial institutions, largely for the training of clergy and lawyers, to major intellectual centres at the forefront of Scottish identity and life, seen as fundamental to democratic principles and the opportunity for social advancement for the talented. Many of the key figures of the Scottish Enlightenment were university professors, who developed their ideas in university lectures. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Scotland's five university colleges had no entrance exams. Students typically entered at ages of 15 or 16, attended for as little as two years, chose which lectures to attend and left without qualifications. There was a concerted attempt to modernise the curriculum to meet the needs of the emerging middle classes and the professions. The result of these reforms was a revitalisation of the Scottish university system and growth in the number of students. In the first half of the twentieth century Scottish universities fell behind those in England and Europe in terms of participation and investment. After the Robbins Report of 1963 there was a rapid expansion in higher education in Scotland. By the end of the decade the number of Scottish universities had doubled. In 1992 the distinction between universities and colleges was removed, creating a series of new universities.

All Scottish universities are public and funded in part by the Scottish Government (through its Scottish Funding Council). In 2021–22, approximately 301,000 students studied at universities or institutes of higher education in Scotland, 82,440 of which are international students.[1] The sector employs, directly and indirectly, six per cent of all jobs in the Scottish economy.[2]

History

Main article: History of universities in Scotland

Middle Ages

Bust of Bishop Henry Wardlaw, founder of St. Andrews University

Until the fifteenth century, Scots who wished to attend university had to travel to England or to the Continent.[3] This situation was transformed by the founding of St John's College, St Andrews in 1418 by Henry Wardlaw, bishop of St. Andrews.[4] St Salvator's College was added to St. Andrews in 1450. The other great bishoprics followed, with the University of Glasgow being founded in 1451 and King's College, Aberdeen in 1495.[5] Initially, these institutions were designed for the training of clerics, but they would increasingly be used by laymen.[3] International contacts helped integrate Scotland into a wider European scholarly world and would be one of the most important ways in which the new ideas of Humanism were brought into Scottish intellectual life in the sixteenth century.[6]

Early modern era

Restoration there was a purge of Presbyterians from the universities, but most of the intellectual advances of the preceding period were preserved.[11] The colleges at St. Andrews were de-merged.[9] The five Scottish university colleges recovered from the disruption of the civil war years and Restoration with a lecture-based curriculum that was able to embrace economics and science, offering a high-quality liberal education to the sons of the nobility and gentry.[12]

Eighteenth century

Old College, University of Edinburgh, planned by Robert Adam and completed in the nineteenth century

In the eighteenth century the universities went from being small and parochial institutions, largely for the training of clergy and lawyers, to major intellectual centres at the forefront of Scottish identity and life, seen as fundamental to democratic principles and the opportunity for social advancement for the talented.

European Enlightenment.[16] Many of the key figures of the Scottish Enlightenment were university professors, who developed their ideas in university lectures. Key figures included Francis Hutcheson, Hugh Blair, David Hume, Adam Smith, James Burnett, Adam Ferguson, John Millar and William Robertson, William Cullen, James Anderson, Joseph Black and James Hutton.[13]

Modern era

The purpose-built modern buildings of the University of Stirling

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Scotland's five university colleges had no entrance exam, students typically entered at ages of 15 or 16, attended for as little as two years, chose which lectures to attend and left without qualifications.

Paisley and Robert Gordon.[21]

Present

Organisation

The Main Building of Queen Margaret University

There are fifteen universities in Scotland

academic degrees. The University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) gained full university status in 2011, having been created through the federation of 13 colleges and research institutions across the Highlands and Islands, a process that began in 2001.[23]

All Scottish universities have the power to award degrees at all levels: undergraduate, taught postgraduate, and doctoral. Education in Scotland is controlled by the

Privy Council which takes advice from the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.[25][26]

Funding and finances

All Scottish universities are

research council studentship for a PhD). A representative body called Universities Scotland works to promote Scotland's universities, as well as six other higher education institutions.[28]

The total consolidated annual income for the fifteen Scottish universities for 2020–21 was £4.38 billion of which £847 million was from research grants and contracts, with an operating surplus of £290.4 million (6.63%). £1.36 billion was received from the Scottish Funding Council via grants and £298.5 million was received from tuition fees of Home-domiciled students, defined as Scotland-domiciled students and European Union-domiciled students who began their studies prior to 2021-22.[29] The table below is a record of each Scottish university's financial data for the 2020–21 financial year as recorded by the Higher Education Statistics Agency:[30]

University Government funding body grants (£m) Funding Body income as % of total income Home-Domiciled Teaching income (£m) Overall Teaching income (£m) Teaching income as % of total income Research income (£m) Research income as % of total income Total income (£m) Operating surplus (£m) Surplus as % of total income
University of Aberdeen 87.6 37.1% 16.6 74.4 31.5% 45.9 19.5% 235.9 7.0 2.96%
Abertay University 21.6 58.0% 6.1 10.4 28.0% 2.9 7.7% 37.2 —0.9 —2.49%
University of Dundee 93.4 33.8% 17.9 73.9 26.8% 74.4 26.9% 276.2 6.7 2.42%
University of Edinburgh 236.3 19.9% 41.4 435.0 36.6% 324.0 27.3% 1,187.4 127.3 10.72%
Edinburgh Napier University 66.3 50.6% 14.7 51.8 39.5% 3.7 2.8% 131.1 —2.7 —2.05%
University of Glasgow 198.4 24.4% 42.5 292.8 36.0% 173.3 21.3% 813.1 117.3 14.42%
Glasgow Caledonian University 73.8 54.9% 26.3 47.0 34.9% 5.4 4.0% 134.6 —2.1 —1.59
Heriot-Watt University 50.0 21.1% 17.6 128.1 54.5% 32.9 14.0% 235.1 2.2 0.94%
Queen Margaret University 20.7 47.0% 6.6 15.1 34.2% 3.0 6.8% 44.0 —1.9 —4.2%
Robert Gordon University 51.9 50.3% 18.5 40.3 39.0% 3.0 2.9% 103.2 —2.5 —2.45%
University of St Andrews 48.2 16.6% 7.0 121.9 42.0% 43.7 15.0% 290.4 40.5 13.95%
University of Stirling 53.7 43.1% 15.7 43.5 34.9% 13.3 10.7% 124.5 11.6 9.28%
University of Strathclyde 114.3 32.9% 37.2 103.3 29.7% 88.0 25.3% 347.4 —9.6 —2.75%
University of the Highlands and Islands 110.2 74.0% 10.2 12.0 8.1% 14.5 9.7% 148.9 —4.1 —2.72%
University of West of Scotland
 77.3 60.2% 20.3 43.1 33.5% 4.8 3.7% 128.5 1.6 1.27%

Students

St Andrews students in undergraduate gowns

In the 2021–22 academic year, 301,230 students studied at universities or institutes of higher education in Scotland, 232,080 of which were full-time, 59.1% were female and 40.9% male. 61% of students were domiciled in Scotland, 12% from the rest of the United Kingdom, and the remaining 27% being international students (6% from the European Union). Of all these, approximately 204,465 were studying at undergraduate level, 83,065 for a taught postgraduate degree (primarily a master's degree) and 13,705 for a postgraduate research degree (primarily PhD).[1] The three largest universities by enrolment were the Universities of Glasgow (42,980 students), Edinburgh (41,250 students) and Strathclyde (25,715 students).[1]

Scottish Universities Summer Schools in Physics

The Scottish Universities Summer School in Physics (SUSSP) was established in 1960 by the four ancient Scottish Universities (Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and St. Andrews) to contribute to the dissemination of advanced knowledge in physics and the formation of contacts among scientists from different countries through the setting up of a series of annual summer schools of the highest international standard.[31] As of 2014 it had increased to include Dundee, Glasgow Caledonian, Heriot-Watt, Paisley, and Strathclyde.

Rankings

See also: Rankings of universities in the United Kingdom

In the 2024 national league table rankings, five of the top twenty in both of The Guardian University Guide and in The Times/Sunday Times Good University Guide were Scottish universities. In the 2024 global rankings, three Scottish universities featured in the world's top 200 universities in both of the QS and the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

University Complete 2024 (National)[32] Guardian 2024 (National)[33] Times/Sunday Times 2024 (National)[34] ARWU 2023 (Global)[35] QS 2024 (Global)[36] THE 2024 (Global)[37]
University of Aberdeen 35 12 19 201–300 208 201–250
Abertay University 103= 84 84 — — —
University of Dundee 58 66 33 401–500 441= 301–350
University of Edinburgh 12 14 13 38 22 30=
Edinburgh Napier University 89 92 60 — 801–850 501–600
University of Glasgow 26 13 12 101–150 76= 87=
Glasgow Caledonian University 79 40 50 — 1001–1200 601–800
Heriot-Watt University 44 85 64 901–1000 235 351–400
Queen Margaret University 103= 63 63 — 851–900 —
Robert Gordon University 92 98 62 — 901–950 801–1000
University of St Andrews 4 1 1 301–400 95= 193=
University of Stirling 51 61 53 701–800 431= 401–500
University of Strathclyde 31 16 20 501–600 276 301–350
University of the West of Scotland 128 119 126 — — 601–800

In terms of rankings there are four distinctive clusters of higher and lower status universities in the UK: Oxbridge comprising cluster one; a second cluster containing the remaining 22 Russell Group universities together with 17 other old universities, including Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Heriot-Watt, St Andrews, Stirling and Strathclyde; a third cluster containing 13 old universities and 54 new universities including the remaining Scottish universities; and a fourth cluster contains 19 new universities but no Scottish universities.[38]

Research Excellence Framework

The below lists the outcome of the latest Research Excellence Framework undertaken in 2021 (the next REF is scheduled for 2028) by the four UK higher education funding bodies. The quality of research was rated 4* (world leading), 3* (internationally excellent), 2* (recognised internationally), 1* (recognised nationally) and unclassified. GPA measures the quality of research and Research Power is calculated by the GPA score of a university multiplied by the full-time equivalent number of researchers submitted. The rankings are out of 129 institutions as measured by output:[39]

Quality profile %
University 4* 3* 2* 1* Unclassified GPA ranking Research Power ranking
University of Aberdeen 29 51 19 1 0 53 37
Abertay University 12 52 31 4 0 97 108
University of Dundee 38 45 16 1 0 41 49
University of Edinburgh 41 45 12 1 0 19 4
Edinburgh Napier University 19 52 27 2 0 77 83
University of Glasgow 48 43 8 0 0 6 13
Glasgow Caledonian University 22 53 22 3 0 66 91
Heriot-Watt University 35 53 10 1 0 33 51
Queen Margaret University 14 37 40 8 2 116 116
Robert Gordon University 12 57 28 3 0 87 113
University of St Andrews 41 46 12 1 0 17 36
University of Stirling 27 51 21 1 0 58 53
University of Strathclyde 31 56 13 1 0 47 32
University of the Highlands and Islands 26 42 27 5 0 77 106
University of West of Scotland
 12 46 32 9 1 114 85

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c "Where do HE students study?: Students by HE provider". HESA. HE student enrolments by HE provider. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  2. ^ "Ten things to know about Scottish Higher Education". universities-scotland.ac.uk. Universities Scotland.
  3. ^
    ISBN 0-333-56761-7
    , pp. 124–5.
  4. ISBN 9004162771
    , p. 119.
  5. ISBN 0-19-211696-7
    , pp. 610–12.
  6. ^
    ISBN 0-7486-0276-3
    , pp. 68–72.
  7. ISBN 0748614559
    , p. 187.
  8. ISBN 0748602763
    , p. 185.
  9. ^
    ISBN 1862321140
    , p. 332.
  10. ISBN 0140136495
    , pp. 227–8.
  11. ISBN 1-4464-7563-8
    , p. 262.
  12. ISBN 0-7486-1625-X
    , pp. 219–28.
  13. ^
    ISBN 0-19-211696-7
    , pp. 612–14.
  14. ISBN 0521003237
    , p. 100.
  15. ISBN 0-521-89088-8
    , p. 245.
  16. ISBN 0-609-80999-7
    .
  17. ^
    ISBN 0-7486-1625-X
    , p. 224.
  18. ISBN 0748601023
    , pp. 147–50.
  19. ISBN 0-7486-0999-7
    , pp. 78–9.
  20. ISBN 0-19-211696-7
    , pp. 614–5.
  21. ISBN 0-7486-1625-X
    , pp. 664–5.
  22. ^ "Briefing". Universities Scotland. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
  23. ^ "UHI is awarded taught degree awarding powers". Highland Council. 26 June 2008. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
  24. ^ "Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills". Scottish Government. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  25. ^ "The Privy Council, Standard Note: SN/PC/3708" (PDF). The Privy Council. 5 July 2005. pp. 5–6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 December 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
  26. ^ "Degree-awarding powers and university title". Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA). 29 November 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  27. ^ "Higher Education". The Scottish Government. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
  28. ^ "Universities Scotland". Retrieved 7 September 2010.
  29. ^ "EU Residence Guide - Tuition Fee Status of Students Starting Studies in 2021-22" (PDF). saas.gov.uk. Student Awards Agency Scotland. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  30. ^ "What is the income of HE providers?". hesa.ac.uk. Higher Education Statistics Agency. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  31. ^ Walker, Alan (19 March 2014). "Scottish Universities Summer Schools in Physics". Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  32. ^ "Complete University Guide 2024". The Complete University Guide. 8 June 2023.
  33. ^ "Guardian University Guide 2024". The Guardian. 9 September 2023. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  34. ^ "Good University Guide 2024". The Times. 15 September 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  35. ^ "Academic Ranking of World Universities 2023". Shanghai Ranking Consultancy. 15 August 2023.
  36. ^ "QS World University Rankings 2024". Quacquarelli Symonds Ltd. 27 June 2023.
  37. ^ "THE World University Rankings 2024". Times Higher Education. 28 September 2023. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
  38. ^ Vikki Bolivera, "Are there distinctive clusters of higher and lower status universities in the UK?", Oxford Review of Education, 41 (5), 2015, pp. 608–27, DOI 10.1080/03054985.2015.1082905.
  39. ^ "REF 2021 Outputs". Times Higher Education. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
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