page_title: Culture of the United Kingdom
section_title: Scotland
hierarchical_section_title: Culture of the United Kingdom / Education / Scotland
caption_attribution_description: English: New College, Mound Edinburgh University's Divinity school, built in 1846 by the Free Church of Scotland on the site formerly occupied by the residence of James V's widow, Mary of Guise.
context_page_description: British culture is influenced by the combined nations' history; its historically Christian religious life, its interaction with the cultures of Europe, the traditions of England, Wales and Scotland, and the impact of the British Empire. Although British culture is a distinct entity, the individual cultures of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are diverse and have varying degrees of overlap and distinctiveness.
  British literature is particularly esteemed. The novel was invented in Britain, and playwrights, poets, and authors are among its most prominent cultural figures. Britain has also made notable contributions to music, cinema, art, architecture and television. The UK is also the home of the Church of England, the state church and mother church of the Anglican Communion, the third-largest Christian denomination. Britain contains some of the world's oldest universities, has made many contributions to philosophy, science and technology, and is the birthplace of many prominent scientists and inventions. The Industrial Revolution began in the UK and had a profound effect on the family socio-economic and cultural conditions of the world.
context_section_description: Scotland has a long history of universal provision of public education which, traditionally, has emphasised breadth across a range of subjects rather than depth of education in a smaller range of subjects. The majority of schools are non-denominational, but by law separate Roman Catholic schools, with an element of control by the Roman Catholic Church, are provided by the state system. Qualifications at the secondary school and post-secondary (further education) levels are provided by the Scottish Qualifications Authority and delivered through various schools, colleges and other centres. Political responsibility for education at all levels is vested in the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Executive Education and Enterprise, Transport & Lifelong Learning Departments. State schools are owned and operated by the local authorities which act as Education Authorities, and the compulsory phase is divided into primary school and secondary school (often called high school, with the world's oldest high school being the Royal High School, Edinburgh in 1505, which colonists spread to the New World owing to the high prestige enjoyed by the Scottish educational system). Schools are supported in delivering the National Guidelines and National Priorities by Learning and Teaching Scotland.
  First degree courses at Scottish universities are often a year longer than elsewhere in the UK, though sometimes students can take a more advanced entrance exam and join the courses in the second year. One unique aspect is that the ancient universities of Scotland award a Master of Arts degree as the first degree in humanities. The University of Edinburgh is among the top twenty universities in the world according to the QS World University Rankings 2011. It is also among the Ancient Universities of Great Britain.
caption: New College, University of Edinburgh
exif: {}