Education in Scotland is all about life-long learning – so there’s plenty of ways to satisfy the thirst for knowledge


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SCOTLAND and education are old friends. From the founding of the University of St Andrews nearly 600 years ago, to the libraries of mining and steelworking communities during the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s and on to today’s Curriculum for Excellence and cutting-edge scientific research, Scots have found their greatest wealth is knowledge. There are more than a dozen


universities in Scotland, more than 40 colleges and nearly 400 secondary schools. Scotland’s primary and secondary


education system follows the Curriculum For Excellence, which was launched in 2009 and aims to help youngsters between the ages of three and 18 years become successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors to society. Education in Scotland begins with very


small steps taken by three-year olds who enter pre-school (sometimes known as nursery school) designed to prepare them for primary at the age of five. At pre-school, children are shown the


tools they’ll need for learning; at primary school, up to the age of 12, they put these tools to use, venturing into reading and writing, learning number skills, working in groups, developing as individuals, testing their boundaries. Primary school is as much learning about oneself as it is starting to get a measure of the world around us. Scottish children attend secondary


schools from the age of 12 until they are at least 16, though many continue their studies until the age of 18. For those first four years, pupils work


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towards Standard Grades, the cornerstone qualifications used to determine their paths into further education and the world of work. Standard Grades are awarded by the


Scottish Qualifications Authority, as are Highers, which students can take for up to two years after they achieve their Standard Grades. Highers are a path towards college and university places and demanded by many employers. Accomplishment in Highers is a


foot in the door of further education, a place at college or university. Scotland’s universities are world-renowned and


“Scots have found their greatest wealth is knowledge”


four of them are among the six oldest universities in the UK. St Andrews is Scotland’s oldest, founded in 1410, Glasgow was established in 1451, Aberdeen in 1495 and Edinburgh in 1582. Recent figures suggest there are more than 275,000 people in higher education (colleges and universities) in Scotland. From Scotland’s 15 universities have


come innovations such anaesthetics, cloning of mammals, keyhole surgery and a booming computer gaming industry. Scottish schools have given the


world the inventors who brought us telephones, television, radar, ultrasound scanners, pneumatic tyres, fingerprinting, engineering marvels great and small. Over the next several years, the


Scottish Government plans to spend £1.25 billion on renovating its schools. Since 2007, more than 300 have been renovated or rebuilt, with many more in the pipeline under the Schools For the Future programme.


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