During the medieval period, Scotland followed the typical pattern of European education with the Roman Catholic church organising schooling. Church choir song schools and grammar schools were founded in all the main burghs and some small towns, early examples including the High School of Glasgow in 1124 and the High School of Dundee in 1239. These were almost exclusively aimed at boys, but by the end of the 15th century Edinburgh also had schools for girls.^[1] Scotland advanced markedly in educational terms during the 15th century with the founding of the University of St Andrews in 1413, the University of Glasgow in 1450 and the University of Aberdeen in 1495, and with the passing of the Education Act 1496, which decreed that all sons of barons and freeholders of substance should attend grammar schools. All this resulted in an increase in literacy, but which was largely concentrated among a male and wealthy elite.^[1] James IV's reign is often considered to have seen a flowering of Scottish culture under the influence of the European Renaissance.^[2]

The Scottish Reformation brought the reshaping of the national Church of Scotland and in January 1561 John Knox and a small group of clergymen set out a national programme for spiritual reform, including the "virtuous education and godly upbringing of the youth of this Realm" with a schoolmaster to be appointed to every church. "For the poor, if need be, education may be given free; for the rich, it is only necessary to see that education is given under proper supervision." Reformation concepts such as the priesthood of all believers, the importance of the individual conscience, and the supremacy of Scripture in all matters of faith and practice, made widespread literacy important. Unlike the Reformation in England which had been imposed by the monarch, the Scottish Kirk had not been reformed under the leadership of the crown, and tensions would continue. Late in 1561 the Privy council made a financial settlement which fell far short of the Church's hopes, but the intent was implemented as resources permitted. Early progress was made in reforming the universities, and new universities were formed, at Edinburgh in 1582, and Marischal College, Aberdeen in 1593. In the burghs the old schools were maintained, with the song schools and a number of new foundations becoming reformed grammar schools or ordinary parish schools. Here and there in the countryside parish schools were set up, often with the minister also serving as schoolmaster, who was commonly called the "Dominie". At their best, the curriculum included catechism, Latin, French, Classical literature and sports.

In 1616 an act in Privy council commanded every parish to establish a school "where convenient means may be had", and when the Parliament of Scotland ratified this with the Education Act of 1633, a tax on local landowners was introduced to provide the necessary endowment. A loophole which allowed evasion of this tax was closed in the Education Act of 1646, which established a solid institutional foundation for schools on Covenanter principles. Although the Restoration brought a reversion to the 1633 position, in 1696 new legislation restored the provisions of 1646 together with means of enforcement "more suitable to the age". An act of the Scottish parliament in 1696 (reinforced in 1801) underlined the aim of having a school in every parish. In rural communities these obliged local landowners (heritors) to provide a schoolhouse and pay a schoolmaster, while ministers and local presbyteries oversaw the quality of the education. In many Scottish towns, burgh schools were operated by local councils.^[3]

One of the effects of this extensive network of schools was the growth of the "democratic myth" in the 19th century, which created the widespread belief that many a "lad of pairts" had been able to rise up through the system to take high office and that literacy was much more widespread in Scotland than in neighbouring states, particularly England.^[4] Historians now accept that very few boys were able to pursue this route to social advancement and that literacy was not noticeably higher than comparable nations, as the education in the parish schools was basic, short and attendance was not compulsory.^[5]

Industrialisation, urbanisation and the Disruption of 1843 all undermined the tradition of parish schools. From 1830 the state began to fund buildings with grants, then from 1846 it was funding schools by direct sponsorship, and in 1872 Scotland moved to a system like that in England of state-sponsored largely free schools, run by local school boards.^[5] Overall administration was in the hands of the Scotch (later Scottish) Education Department in London.^[6] Education was now compulsory from five to thirteen and many new board schools were built. Larger urban school boards established "higher grade" (secondary) schools as a cheaper alternative to the burgh schools. The Scottish Education Department introduced a Leaving Certificate Examination in 1888 to set national standards for secondary education and in 1890 school fees were abolished, creating a state-funded national system of free basic education and common examinations.^[4]

The five Scottish universities had been oriented to clerical and legal training, after the religious and political upheavals of the 17th century they recovered with a lecture-based curriculum that was able to embrace economics and science, offering a high quality liberal education to the sons of the nobility and gentry. It helped the universities to become major centres of medical education and to put Scotland at the forefront of Enlightenment thinking.^[4] In the mid 19th century, the historic University of Glasgow became a leader in British higher education by providing the educational needs of youth from the urban and commercial classes, as opposed to the upper class. It prepared students for non-commercial careers in government, the law, medicine, education, and the ministry and a smaller group for careers in science and engineering.^[7] Scottish universities would admit women from 1892.^[4]

The Scottish education system underwent radical change and expansion in the 20th century. In 1918 Roman Catholic schools were brought into the system, but retained their distinct religious character, access to schools by priests and the requirement that school staff be acceptable to the Church. The school leaving age was raised to 14 in 1901, and although plans to raise it 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 inter-war period, particularly for girls, who stayed on in full-time education in increasing numbers throughout the century. 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. The centre of the education system also became more focused on Scotland, with the ministry of education partly moving north in 1918 and then finally having its headquarters relocated to Edinburgh in 1939.^[4] After devolution, in 1999 the new Scottish Executive set up an Education Department and an Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department, which together took over its functions.^[8] One of the major diversions from practice in England, possible because of devolution, was the abolition of student tuition fees in 1999, instead retaining a system of means-tested student grants.^[9]

For a description of the current education system in Scotland, see Education in Scotland

• Comprehensive school
• Gaelic medium education in Scotland
• School Board
• Education in England
• Education in Northern Ireland
• Education in Scotland
• Education in Wales
• Education in the United Kingdom
• List of further and higher education colleges in Scotland
• English medium education#Scotland

• Decline of Gaelic
• Social Change in the History of Education (.doc format)
• The setting up of the Scottish Leaving Certificate

• Anderson, R. D. Education and the Scottish People, 1750-1918 (1995).
• Anderson, R.D. "The history of Scottish Education pre-1980", in T. G. K. Bryce and W. M. Humes, eds, Scottish Education: Post-Devolution (2nd ed., 2003), pp. 219-28.
• Hendrie, William F. The dominie: a profile of the Scottish headmaster (1997)
• O'Hagan, Francis J. The contribution of the religious orders to education in Glasgow during the period, 1847-1918 (2006), on Catholics
• Raftery, Deirdre, Jane McDermid, and Gareth Elwyn Jones, "Social Change and Education in Ireland, Scotland and Wales: Historiography on Nineteenth-century Schooling," History of Education, July/Sept 2007, Vol. 36 Issue 4/5, pp 447-463
• Smout, T. C. A History of the Scottish People, Fontana Press 1985, ISBN 0-00-686027-3