Ancient universities of Scotland
The ancient universities are part of twenty-seven culturally significant institutions recognised by the British monarchy as privileged bodies of the United Kingdom.
Bishop Henry Wardlaw (died 1440) issued a charter in 1411 and attracted the most learned men in Scotland as professors.
In 1413 Avignon Pope Benedict XIII issued six bulls confirming the charter and constituting the society a university.
In 2022, the university announced its intention to found New College, which would form a new hub for the schools of economics and finance, international relations, and management.
As one of the ancient universities of the United Kingdom, Glasgow is one of only eight institutions to award undergraduate master's degrees in certain disciplines.
Subsequently, a single college, originally known as St. Mary of the Nativity, was established (it was founded by William Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen, who drafted a request on behalf of King James IV to Pope Alexander VI which resulted in a papal bull being issued).
[15] The university was established by a royal charter granted by James VI in April 1582,[16] and instruction began under the charge of theologian Robert Rollock in October 1583.
But we accept this "ancient" tag, with grace, as a mark of our history and distinction and a reinforcement of the University's commitment to student representation at levels.
The Scottish Government enforces a quota on the number of undergraduate places available for students from Scotland and as a result, entry to the four universities are selective.
Entrance typically requires strong performances in standardised exams as represented by the average scores of new entrants when converted to UCAS points.
[30] St Andrews' and Edinburgh's higher proportion of private school students are due to the two universities recruiting "substantial numbers of students from the rest of the United Kingdom, many of whom come from prosperous English families and attended private schools" according to a report commissioned for the Scottish Government.
[46][5] In 2014, approximately 48 per cent of the undergraduate population at the four universities comprises Scottish students,[47] with over half of them having received their education from independent schools in Scotland.
Notably, more than half of Scotland's top media professionals and 46 per cent of the country's MPs are alumni of these universities.
[51] Following increasing pressures to address widening access concerns,[52] in 2019, the Scottish Government ordered universities to create lower admissions thresholds for applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds.
[53][54] Scotland's Commissioner for Fair Access, Sir Peter Scott, had previously stated that middle-class Scottish students with strong academic results had "no entitlement" to enter ancient universities.
[55] Concerns over the Scottish Government's approach to funding has also led to accusations that the ancients are incentivised to attract students from the rest of the United Kingdom and from overseas, with all ancient universities of Scotland amongst the most reliant universities in the UK for teaching income from international students.
[56] For the 2016-17 admissions cycle, ancient universities were criticised for the number of clearing places they had for Scottish students.
