SCOTLAND:
A PROUD
TRADITION OF
EXCELLENCE IN
LEARNING
January 2015
Scotland has led the world in
a commitment to excellence in
education for centuries. We were
the first country in the world to
provide universal education open
to both boys and girls, as early
as the 17th century.
Through the explosion of energy that
fuelled the Scottish Enlightenment,
a constellation of geniuses emerged. People such as David Hume,
Adam Smith, Dugald Stewart,
James Hutton and John Playfair,
blazed the trail in philosophy and
economics, physics and medicine,
engineering and geology.
These Scots thinkers and inventors
inspired a tradition and a quality
of education that continues today,
offering first-class education at all
stages of learning.
The Scottish Government has an
egalitarian approach to further
education, restoring free tuition
to all eligible Scottish-domiciled
undergraduate students.
The Scottish Government invests
in progressive early learning and
childcare strategies, adopting
a pioneering approach to learning
with a coherent curriculum for young
people from age 3 to 18 in the
form of Curriculum for Excellence.
We are a nation that believes in
the unlimited potential of providing
free access to education.
SCOTLAND IS:
1.A land where a first-class
education is accessible to all
2.Home to world-class facilities,
quality teaching and
world-leading research
3.Home to an education sector
with a proud history and a
future focused on innovation
1. A
LAND WHERE A FIRST-CLASS EDUCATION
IS ACCESSIBLE TO ALL
INVESTING IN THE BEST
OUTCOMES FROM DAY ONE
To ensure every child in Scotland
gets the best start in life, the
Scottish Government funds
pre-school places for 3 and
4-year-olds and some of our most
disadvantaged 2-year-olds.
From August 2014, this provision
increased to 600 hours of free
pre-school education annually.
This free childcare entitlement
is being extended to more
disadvantaged 2-year-olds
from August 2015, with around
a quarter of 2-year-olds expected
to become eligible in 2015-16.
The Early Years Collaborative is the
world’s first national multi-agency
quality improvement programme.
A coalition of social services, health,
education, police and third sector
professionals – committed to
ensuring that every baby, child,
mother, father and family in Scotland
has access to the best support
available. Support in pregnancy,
in the development of parents’ skills,
support for learning and addressing
child poverty.
A PIONEERING APPROACH
TO LEARNING
Scotland has a pioneering approach
to learning. Supporting learning
from birth, continuing throughout
our lives.
Curriculum for Excellence is the
holistic system of education
in Scotland which applies to
all children and young people
age 3-18.
FURTHER EDUCATION
The Scottish Government’s reforms to
colleges further reflects our commitment
to excellence.
Institutions are now better equipped to
work with other learning partners and
with employers, meaning that Scotland’s
13 college regions, comprising 25
colleges, deliver education which closely
matches the needs of employers.
With courses from construction to
computer-aided design, languages
to legal studies, our colleges are at
the heart of developing Scotland’s
workforce of the future.
HIGHER EDUCATION
We believe in the unlimited
potential of providing free tuition
in higher education.
The Scottish Government restored free
tuition to eligible Scottish-domiciled
undergraduate students and has
increased the number of funded places
available at our universities for students
from Scotland and the EU.
Designed to provide the knowledge,
skills and attributes needed for
learning, life and work in the 21st
century, this approach aims to
build successful learners, confident
individuals, responsible citizens
and effective contributors.
2. HOME TO WORLD-CLASS FACILITIES AND QUALITY EDUCATION
UNDERPINNED BY WORLD-LEADING RESEARCH
Scotland has more world-class
universities per capita than
anywhere else in the world,
second only to Switzerland
and the highest concentration
of universities in Europe.
In the Times Higher Education
(THE) World University Rankings
in 2014/15 – four of our universities
feature in the top 200; Aberdeen,
Edinburgh, Glasgow and St Andrews.
Research is hugely important to
our universities sector. Researchers
in Scotland’s universities are
responsible for many world-changing
discoveries and innovations including
the MRI scanner, development
of keyhole surgery, and the theory
that first posited the existence of the
Higgs-Boson particle.
Testament to the success of our
university research, in 2012/13
alone, Scottish universities
attracted £969m in research
funding with 15% of research
submitted from Scotland in the
FOUR
last (2008) Research Assessment
Exercise classified as world-leading
– the highest rating.
Scotland is home to state-of-theart facilities and countless
centres of excellence including;
the National Centre of Excellence
for Computer Games, UK Astronomy
Technology Centre, ARCHER –
Academic Research Computing
High End Resource and the
Oil and Gas Innovation Centre
to name but a few.
SCOTLAND SCORES
5.8 OUT OF 7
FOR UNIVERSITY INDUSTRY COLLABORATION IN
IN THE TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT,
RANKINGS 2014-15
USA, GERMANY AND JAPAN
WORLD UNIVERSITY
INSPIRING FUTURE GENERATIONS
Professor Peter Higgs from the University
of Edinburgh won the Nobel Prize for physics
in October 2013.
Professor Higgs, University of Edinburgh’s
Emeritus Professor of Theoretical Physics
shared the prize with Professor Francois Englert.
The two professors were awarded the prize
for their work on particle physics.
Higgs and Englert and his colleague, the late
Robert Brout, published theories on how particles
that made up atoms acquired mass. Fifty years
after the papers were published, scientists at
the European Organisation for Nuclear Research
proved the theory.
Professor Higgs agreed to a new Scottish
Government prize being named in his honour,
recognising the brightest young school physicists.
His commitment to encouraging our next
generation of scientists is well-known, and the first
winners of the Higgs Prize are: Lucy Willets-White,
formerly of Boroughmuir High School in Edinburgh,
now studying physics at Imperial College, London
and Peter Rhodes from Crail, formerly of Madras
College in St Andrews.
ABOVE OECD COUNTRIES SUCH AS THE
3. A
PROUD HISTORY AND A FUTURE
FOCUSED ON INNOVATION
From the oldest university,
St Andrews, founded in 1413 through
to the newest, the University of
Highlands and Islands, which was
granted full university status in 2011,
our universities have a proud history of
helping shape some of the world’s
finest minds. Today, our universities are
leading the way in innovations in areas
such as life sciences, medical research,
biotechnology, informatics, energy,
nanotechnology and environmental
sciences.
Distinct to our universities, which
educate to degree level and beyond,
Scotland’s colleges offer a range of
qualifications from vocational
certifications to fast track degree
entry. Scotland’s first college –
Coatbridge – dates back to 1891 and is
now part of New Lanarkshire College.
It is estimated that college students
will contribute £1.2 bn to the
Scottish economy by 2020 – the
equivalent to 1% of Scottish GDP.
Our further and higher education sector
drives our economy and produces
thousands of highly trained graduates
every year across the industry
spectrum. Our world-renowned
education system and impressive ratio
of graduates per capita surpasses most
countries of comparable size in Europe.
The Scottish Funding Council has
invested £124m in a network of
Innovation Centres across Scotland over
six years to help solve industry-defined
problems. There are currently eight new
Innovation Centres as listed below :
DID YOU KNOW?
Scotland is now the most successful
part of the UK for spin-out creation –
increasing our share of all spin-outs
from 19% ten years ago to 28% today.
Five of our Higher Education
Institutes are in the world’s top
120 for scientific performance.
• Stratified Medicine
• Sensors and Imaging Systems
• Digital Health Institute
• Industrial Biotechnology
• Aquaculture
• Construction Scotland
• Big Data
• Oil and Gas
The Innovation Centres are bringing
together the research excellence within
our world-leading universities and our
business sector to deliver real social
economic benefits.
DIGITAL VISUALISATION – GLASGOW SCHOOL OF ART
Experts in 3D scanning and
visualisation at Glasgow School of
Art’s Digital Design Studio have
teamed together with Historic
Scotland and digital heritage
organisation CyArk in the use of
cutting-edge technology to capture
all five of Scotland’s world heritage
sites alongside five international sites.
Rushmore in the United States,
Rani Ki Vav, the Queen’s Stepwell
in India and the Eastern Qing
Tombs, part of the Imperial Tombs
of the Ming and Qing Dynasties World
Heritage Site in Beijing, China.
In Scotland, the sites include Rosslyn
Chapel, New Lanark, St Kilda,
The five international sites include
Scott Monument and the Neolithic
the Sydney Opera House, Australia,
Landscape of Orkney. the presidential heads at Mount
The partnership, called the Scottish
Ten, uses the latest digital
documentation and visualisation
technology to create a digital archive
of sites, helping with conservation
and providing virtual access to often
inaccessible areas.
DID YOU KNOW?
Global
Scottish universities have
campuses across the world,
including Heriot-Watt University
in Dubai and Malaysia, Glasgow
School of Art in Singapore,
Queen Margaret University
in Singapore, and Glasgow
Caledonian University in New York.
Number 1
Scotland is the most highly
educated country in Europe
according to the Office for
National Statistics with the
proportion of the population going
into higher and further education,
being one of the highest in the world.
Top 120
94%
The Universities of Aberdeen,
Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and
St Andrews are rated amongst
the top 120 best scientific
institutions in the world
for scientists.
More than 94% of international
students believe Scotland is a
‘good place to be’ (International
Student Barometer 2013).
Happy
At 89.8%, Scotland has the highest
rate of student satisfaction in the
UK – which is above the global
average.
6.7bn
Higher education contributed
£6.7bn gross value added to the
Scottish economy in 2012/13 and
supports over 142,000 jobs.
Notable Alumni
Institution
Alumni
Detail
1
Robert Gordon
University
Hamish Dodds
President and CEO of Hard Rock International and Non-Executive Board
Director of Pier 1 Imports, Inc. (BA (CNAA) Business Studies)
2
Heriot-Watt
University
Adam Crozier
CEO of ITV plc (BA in Business Organisation)
3
Glasgow School of Art Duncan Campbell
Turner Prize Winner (MFA Graduate)
4
Glasgow Caledonian
University
Dr Rhona Martin MBE
Scottish curler and former skip of Scotland women’s team and the
Great Britain women’s team that claimed the gold medal at the 2002
Winter Olympic Games
5
University of Stirling
Professor Muffy Calder
OBE
Chief Scientific Adviser for Scotland
6
University of
Edinburgh
Dame Stella Rimington
The first publically known Director-General of MI5 and first female head
of the security service
7
University of
Strathclyde
Sir Tom Hunter
A donor and founder of the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship and an
ambassador of the University’s enterprise activities. Awarded an
Honorary Degree in 2001 and is inducted into Strathclyde’s Academy
of Distinguished Entrepreneurs (BA(Hons) Economics & Marketing)
8
University of
Aberdeen
Robert Brown
A 17th and 18th century botanist who made important contributions
to science, including one of the earliest detailed descriptions of the cell
nucleus and the observation of Brownian motion
9
University of
Glasgow
Emeli Sande
Chart topping singer/songwriter who graduated with a BSc in 2009 and
received the Young Alumnus of the Year Award in 2011 for her success
in the music industry
10
University of
St Andrews
Edward Jenner
Physician and pioneer of the Smallpox vaccine, graduated from the
University of St Andrews in 1792. He is known as “the father of
immunology” and his work is said to have saved more lives than the
work of any other
11
University of
Dundee
Robert Watson Watt
Sir Robert Alexander Watson-Watt (KCB, FRS, FRAeS) was a pioneer and
significant contributor to the development of radar
12
Edinburgh Napier
University
Lynsey Sharp
Became the 800m European Champion within two weeks of graduating,
before going on to compete in the 2012 Olympics and claim the silver
medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games (LLB (Hons))
13
Abertay University
David Jones
Founder of DMA Games, which was then renamed Rockstar North, who
is behind two of the biggest video games of all time; Lemmings and
Grand Theft Auto
14
Queen Margaret
University
Kevin McKidd
Star of Grey’s Anatomy, among other stage and screen credits,
who studied drama at Queen Margaret University before his move
to Hollywood
15
University of the
Highlands
and Islands
Julie Fowlis
Acclaimed Scottish singer and musician who has performed across the
world, including to 500 million people during the 2012 Ryder Cup
closing ceremony, and on the soundtrack to Disney Pixar’s box office
hit Brave (Masters in Material Culture and the Environment)
16
Open University
Craig Brown
Former Manager of the Scotland National Football Team
17
Royal Conservatoire
of Scotland
Karen Cargill
An internationally renowned mezzo-soprano who performs regularly
at the BBC Proms
18
Scotland’s
Rural College
Doddie Weir
Rugby international who played for Scotland and the British and
Irish Lions
19
University of the
West of Scotland
Dr. Shamshad
Akhtar Detho
The first woman to hold the position of Governor of the State Bank
of Pakistan and current Executive Secretary of the United Nations
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
(Ph.D. in Economics)