Education

Education
Main article: Education in Scotland

Gilbert Scott Building, University of Glasgow
The Scottish education system has always remained distinct from that of the rest of United Kingdom, with acharacteristic emphasis on a broad education.[175] Scotland was the first country since Sparta in classical Greece to implement a system of general public education.[55] Schooling was made compulsoryfor the first time in Scotland with the Education Act of 1496; then, in 1561, the Church of Scotland set out a national programme for spiritual reform, including a school in every parish. Educationcontinued to be a matter for the church rather than the state until the Education Act (1872).[176]
The "Curriculum for Excellence" provides the curricular framework for children and young people fromage 3 to 18.[177] 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); today,children in Scotland study Standard Grades, or more recently Intermediate qualifications between the ages of 14 and 16. The school leaving age is 16, after which students may choose to remain at schooland study for Access, Intermediate or Higher Grade and Advanced Higher qualifications. A small number of students at certain private, independent schools may follow the English system and study towardsGCSEs and A and AS-Levels instead.[178]
There are 15 Scottish universities, some of which are amongst the oldest in the world.[179][180] These include the University of St Andrews, the University ofGlasgow, the University of Aberdeen, the University of Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt University, Robert Gordon University, and the University of Dundee—many of which are ranked amongst the best in theUK.[181][182] The country produces 1% of the world's published research with less than 0.1% of the world's population, and higher education institutions account for 9% of Scotland's service sector...