Editing History of Scotland (section)

===Educational reforms===
{{Main|Education in Scotland}}
Although plans to raise the school leaving age to 15 in the 1940s were never ratified, increasing numbers stayed on beyond elementary education and it was eventually raised to 16 in 1973. As a result, secondary education was the major area of growth in the second half of the 20th century.<ref name=Anderson2003/> New qualifications were developed to cope with changing aspirations and economics, with the Leaving Certificate being replaced by the [[Scottish Certificate of Education]] [[Ordinary Grade]] ('O-Grade') and [[Higher Grade]] ('Higher') qualifications in 1962, which became the basic entry qualification for university study.<ref name=Anderson2003/> The higher education sector expanded in the second half of the 20th century, with four institutions being given university status in the 1960s ([[University of Dundee|Dundee]], [[Heriot-Watt]], [[University of Stirling|Stirling]] and [[University of Strathclyde|Strathclyde]]) and five in the 1990s ([[Abertay]], [[Glasgow Caledonian University|Glasgow Caledonian]], [[Napier University|Napier]], [[University of Paisley|Paisley]] and [[The Robert Gordon University|Robert Gordon]]).<ref>D. Newel, "Scottish higher education policy and funding", in T. G. K. Bryce and W. M. Humes, eds, ''Scottish Education: Post-Devolution'' (2003), p. 142.</ref> After devolution, in 1999 the new [[Scottish Executive]] set up an Education Department and an [[Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department]].<ref name="Fairley2003">J. Fairley, "The Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Department and the Scottish Parliament", in T. G. K. Bryce and W. M. Humes, eds, ''Scottish Education: Post-Devolution'' (2003), pp. 132–140.</ref> One of the major diversions from practice in England, possible because of devolution, was the abolition of [[Tuition fees in the United Kingdom|student tuition fees]] in 1999, instead retaining a system of means-tested student grants.<ref name="Cauldwell2003">D. Cauldwell, "Scottish Higher Education: Character and Provision", in T. G. K. Bryce and W. M. Humes, eds, ''Scottish Education: Post-Devolution'' (2003), pp. 62–73.</ref>