Portal:Scotland/Selected article/Week 44, 2012

The ancient universities of Scotland are medieval and renaissance universities which continue to exist until the present day. The majority of the ancient universities of the British Isles are located within Scotland, and have a number of distinctive features in common, being governed by a series of measures laid down in the Universities (Scotland) Acts 1858-1966. The Universities (Scotland) Act 1966 uses the term 'older universities' to refer to St Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh. The same act provided for the independence from St Andrews of Dundee, which was then granted a similar form of governance under its royal charter. In common with the other ancient universities of the United Kingdom, the Scottish ancients find themselves administered in a quite different fashion from these new universities (of which there are now fifteen in Scotland) and are granted a number of privileges as a result of their different status.

The currently existing ancient universities of Scotland are, in order of foundation:

• University of St Andrews – founded 1413 (incorporating the University of Dundee for most of its history until 1967)
• University of Glasgow – founded 1451
• University of Aberdeen – founded 1495 (see below)
• University of Edinburgh – founded 1583

Following the creation of the ancient universities before the end of the 16th century, no other universities were formed in Scotland until the 20th century. The first 'new university' of the era (see: plate glass university) was the University of Strathclyde, chartered in 1964 but having existed in various forms as an academic institution since 1796.