Scottish Blog

The University of Edinburgh is the last of the ancient Universities of Scotland. Founded in 1583, the University of Edinburgh is the fourth oldest in Scotland, being surpassed only by (in order of establishment) the University of St Andrews, the University of Glasgow and the University of Aberdeen.

The foundation of the University of Edinburgh can be attributed to Bishop Robert Reid. Upon his death in 1558, the bishop left a large sum of money. Eventually this came to be used as the endowment for the foundation of the University of Edinburgh. James IV granted a charter in 1582, allowing the fourth university to be built. At the time of the university’s establishment, England had still not expanded their universities beyond Cambridge and Oxford, which were already established at the time of Scotland’s first University.

The University of Edinburgh became a key figure in the Scottish Enlightenment, as Edinburgh was one of the central locations for the emerging excellence and thought in Scotland. To the present day, the University of Edinburgh has continued to strive in the excellence that tradition has set it. In 2006, the university ranked the 6th best in the United Kingdom, 11th in all of Europe and 52nd in the world, according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities.

Presently the University of Edinburgh receives the third largest monetary endowment from the government in the United Kingdom. With a student population of over 18,000 undergraduates and 6,000 post-graduates. This ranks the per student endowment at the University of Edinburgh as the third highest in the United Kingdom.