Geography of Edinburgh - Education

Education

Further information: List of schools in Edinburgh

There are four universities in Edinburgh with students making up around one-fifth of the population. Established by Royal Charter in 1583, the University of Edinburgh is one of Scotland's ancient universities and is the fourth oldest in the country after St Andrews, Glasgow and Aberdeen. Originally centred around Old College the university expanded to premises on The Mound, the Royal Mile and George Square. Today, the King's Buildings in the south of the city contain most of the schools within the College of Science and Engineering. In 2002, the medical school moved to purpose built accommodation adjacent to the new Edinburgh Royal Infirmary at Little France. The University was placed 21st in the world in the 2012 QS World University Rankings.

In the 1960s Heriot-Watt University and Napier Technical College were established. Heriot-Watt traces its origins to 1821 as the world's first mechanics' institute, when a school for technical education for the working classes was opened. Napier College was renamed Napier Polytechnic in 1986 and gained university status in 1992. Edinburgh Napier University has campuses in the south and west of the city, including the former Craiglockhart Hydropathic and Merchiston Tower. It is home to the Screen Academy Scotland.

Queen Margaret University was founded in 1875, as The Edinburgh School of Cookery and Domestic Economy, by Christian Guthrie Wright and Louisa Stevenson. In 1992, the Privy Council granted the institution powers to award its own taught degrees, and in 1998, the College was granted full degree powers, which enabled it to award its own research and higher degrees. As a result, in 1999 the College took the name Queen Margaret University College. In January 2007 the institution was awarded full university status, becoming Queen Margaret University.

Further education colleges in the city include Jewel and Esk College (incorporating Leith Nautical College founded in 1903), Telford College, opened in 1968, and Stevenson College, opened in 1970. The Scottish Agricultural College also has a campus in south Edinburgh. Other notable institutions include the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh which were established by Royal Charter, in 1506 and 1681 respectively. The Trustees Drawing Academy of Edinburgh was founded in 1760 – an institution that became the Edinburgh College of Art in 1907.

There are 18 nursery, 94 primary and 23 secondary schools in Edinburgh administered by the city council. Edinburgh is home to The Royal High School, one of the oldest schools in the country and the world. The city is home to several independent, fee-paying schools including Edinburgh Academy, Fettes College, George Heriot's School, George Watson's College, Merchiston Castle School, Stewart's Melville College and The Mary Erskine School. In 2009, the proportion of pupils in education at independent schools was 24.2%, far above the national average of just over 7% and higher than in any other region of Scotland.

Read more about this topic:  Geography Of Edinburgh

Famous quotes containing the word education:

    “Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not; it is the first lesson that ought to be learned; and however early a man’s training begins, its probably the last lesson that he learns thoroughly.”
    —Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)

    “Casting an eye on the education of children, from whence I can make a judgment of my own, I observe they are instructed in religious matters before they can reason about them, and consequently that all such instruction is nothing else but filling the tender mind of a child with prejudices.”
    —George Berkeley (1685–1753)

    “In this world, which is so plainly the antechamber of another, there are no happy men. The true division of humanity is between those who live in light and those who live in darkness. Our aim must be to diminish the number of the latter and increase the number of the former. That is why we demand education and knowledge.”
    —Victor Hugo (1802–1885)