A history of the HE environment
A (brief) history of the Scottish Higher Education system
The history of the Scottish HE system goes back to Medieval foundations. In the 15th century Scotland boasted three Universities against two in England; these being St Andrews (founded 1411 by Papal Bull, a charter issued by a Pope), Glasgow (founded 1451 by Papal Bull) and Aberdeen (founded 1495 by Papal Bull). Edinburgh followed in 1583, founded by a Royal Charter.
There was little expansion in the Scottish Higher Education system for the next 380 years. England saw the addition of six civic (red-brick) Universities founded in the Victorian era (Liverpool, Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield) and a series of Colleges were created between the First and Second World Wars. However, these inter-war colleges (e.g Exeter, Newcastle, Hull, Nottingham) were not, at this time, Universities in their own right as they did not have the authority to award their own degrees.
A major turning point for Higher Education in both England and Scotland was the publication of the Robbins Report in 1963. The report concluded that, at that time, higher education was an elite system with fewer than 10% of school leavers entering Higher Education. There was a recommendation for the immediate expansion of Universities and increase in the accessibility of HE for all. Additionally, all Colleges of Advanced Technology should be awarded University status.
Nearly a dozen new English Universities were founded in the decade following the Robbins Report, and in Scotland four new Universities were established - Herriot-Watt, Strathclyde, Dundee and Stirling.
The next big shift in Higher Education took place in 1992. The Further and Higher Education Act removed the distinction between Universities on the one hand, and polytechnics and colleges of higher education on the other. In addition, it also devolved the funding of Scottish HE to a separate Scottish Funding Council. At a stroke this almost doubled the number of Universities in England and today there are 78 English Universities.
A corresponding explosion in University numbers was not seen in Scotland however. Indeed, only five additional Scottish Universities were created in the 1990s: Robert Gordon, Glasgow Caledonian, Paisley, Abertay Dundee and Napier. This takes the total of Scottish Universities to thirteen. This manageable number, combined with relative geographical proximity, means that there is good communication and collaboration amongst the Scottish HE sector, with umbrella bodies such as Universities Scotland being established.