Editing Scotland (section)

=== Education ===
{{Main|Education in Scotland}}
[[File:+ 908 wurde St Andrews bereits Bischohfssitz. 13 (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|240px|Founded in 1413, the [[University of St. Andrews]] is the oldest in Scotland and one of the oldest worldwide<ref>{{cite web |title=History and hertigate |url=https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/about/history/ |website=www.st-andrews.ac.uk |publisher=University of St Andrews |access-date=7 January 2024 |archive-date=28 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231128161357/https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/about/history/ |url-status=live }}</ref>]]
The [[Education in Scotland|Scottish education system]] has always had a characteristic emphasis on a [[Liberal education|broad education]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Guide to Education and Training in Scotland – "the broad education long regarded as characteristic of Scotland" |date=17 March 2003 |url=http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2003/03/16743/19914 |access-date=18 October 2007 |publisher=Scottish Government |archive-date=2 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402101320/http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2003/03/16743/19914 |url-status=live }}</ref> In the 15th century, the Humanist emphasis on education cumulated with the passing of the [[Education Act 1496]], which decreed that all sons of barons and freeholders of substance should attend grammar schools to learn "perfyct Latyne", resulting in an increase in literacy among a male and wealthy elite.<ref name="Bawcutt&Williams2006pp29-30">P. J. Bawcutt and J. H. Williams, ''A Companion to Medieval Scottish Poetry'' (Woodbridge: Brewer, 2006), {{ISBN|1-84384-096-0}}, pp.&nbsp;29–30.</ref> In the Reformation, the 1560 ''[[First Book of Discipline]]'' set out a plan for a school in every parish, but this proved financially impossible.<ref>R. A. Houston, ''Scottish Literacy and the Scottish Identity: Illiteracy and Society in Scotland and Northern England, 1600–1800'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), {{ISBN|0-521-89088-8}}, p. 5.</ref> In 1616 an [[School Establishment Act 1616|act in Privy council]] commanded every parish to establish a school.<ref>{{Citation |title=School education prior to 1873 |url=http://www.scan.org.uk/knowledgebase/topics/education_box1.htm |work=Scottish Archive Network |year=2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928100213/http://www.scan.org.uk/knowledgebase/topics/education_box1.htm |archive-date=28 September 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> By the late seventeenth century there was a largely complete network of parish schools in the lowlands, but in the Highlands basic education was still lacking in many areas.<ref name="Anderson2003">R. Anderson, "The history of Scottish Education pre-1980", in T. G. K. Bryce and W. M. Humes, eds, ''Scottish Education: Post-Devolution'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2nd edn., 2003), {{ISBN|0-7486-1625-X}}, pp.&nbsp;219–228.</ref> Education remained a matter for the church rather than the state until the [[Education (Scotland) Act 1872]].<ref>"Schools and schooling" in M. Lynch (ed.), ''The Oxford Companion to Scottish History'', (Oxford, 2001), pp. 561–563.</ref>

Education in Scotland is the responsibility of the [[Scottish Government]] and is overseen by its executive agency [[Education Scotland]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://education.gov.scot/|title=Education Scotland &#124; Education Scotland|website=education.gov.scot|access-date=12 April 2023|archive-date=12 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412110913/https://education.gov.scot/|url-status=live}}</ref> The ''[[Curriculum for Excellence]]'', Scotland's national school curriculum, presently provides the curricular framework for children and young people from age 3 to 18.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Curriculum for Excellence – Aims, Purposes and Principles |url=http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/curriculumforexcellence/index.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100801110701/http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/curriculumforexcellence/index.asp |archive-date=1 August 2010 |publisher=Scottish Government}}</ref> All 3- and 4-year-old children in Scotland are entitled to a free nursery place. Formal primary education begins at approximately 5 years old and lasts for 7 years (P1–P7); children in Scotland study National Qualifications of the [[Curriculum for Excellence]] between the ages of 14 and 18. The school leaving age is 16, after which students may choose to remain at school and study further qualifications. A small number of students at certain [[List of private schools in Scotland|private schools]] may follow the [[Education in England|English system]] and study towards [[GCSE]]s and [[Advanced Level (UK)|A]] and [[Advanced Level (UK)|AS-Levels]] instead.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Scottish Exam System |url=http://www.scis.org.uk/genInfo/genInfo_scott_exam.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080214084916/http://www.scis.org.uk/genInfo/genInfo_scott_exam.html |archive-date=14 February 2008 |access-date=17 September 2014}}</ref>

There are fifteen [[Scottish universities]], some of which are among the [[List of oldest universities in continuous operation|oldest in the world]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Welcome to the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland |url=http://www.carnegie-trust.org/what_we_do.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011070532/http://www.carnegie-trust.org/what_we_do.htm <!-- Added by H3llBot --> |archive-date=11 October 2007 |access-date=18 October 2007 |publisher=Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Understanding Scottish Qualifications |url=http://www.sac.ac.uk/learning/prospective/international/ireland/IrelandScotsqual |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120522144025/http://www.sac.ac.uk/learning/prospective/international/ireland/IrelandScotsqual |archive-date=22 May 2012 |access-date=18 October 2007 |publisher=Scottish Agricultural College}}</ref> The four universities founded before the end of the 16th century – the [[University of St Andrews]], the [[University of Glasgow]], the [[University of Aberdeen]] and the [[University of Edinburgh]] – are collectively known as the [[ancient universities of Scotland]], all of which rank among the 200 best universities in the world in the [[Times Higher Education World University Rankings|THE rankings]], with Edinburgh placing in the top 50.<ref>{{Cite web |date=20 August 2019 |title=World University Rankings |url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2020/world-ranking |access-date=1 August 2020 |website=Times Higher Education (THE) |language=en |archive-date=18 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190918163456/https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2020/world-ranking |url-status=live }}</ref> Scotland had more universities per capita in [[QS World University Rankings|QS' World University Rankings']] top 100 in 2012 than any other nation.<ref>{{Cite web |date=11 September 2012 |title=Scotland tops global university rankings |url=http://www.newsnetscotland.com/index.php/scottish-news/5813-scotland-tops-global-university-rankings |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130309062707/http://www.newsnetscotland.com/index.php/scottish-news/5813-scotland-tops-global-university-rankings |archive-date=9 March 2013 |access-date=11 January 2013 |publisher=Newsnet Scotland}}</ref> The country produces 1% of the world's [[Academic publishing|published research]] with less than 0.1% of the world's population, and higher education institutions account for 9% of Scotland's service sector exports.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Framework for Higher Education in Scotland: Higher Education Review Phase 2 |date=20 March 2003 |url=http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2003/03/16786/20354 |access-date=18 October 2007 |publisher=Scottish Government |archive-date=2 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402172654/http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2003/03/16786/20354 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=What is higher education? |url=http://www.universities-scotland.ac.uk/Facts%20and%20Figures/HigherEducation.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040316132403/http://www.universities-scotland.ac.uk/Facts%20and%20Figures/HigherEducation.pdf |archive-date=16 March 2004 |access-date=18 October 2007 |publisher=Universities Scotland}}</ref> Scotland's University Courts are the only bodies in Scotland authorised to award degrees.