Edinburgh's Academic Reputation

Scottish education is highly-respected throughout the world and Edinburgh’s reputation as a world-influencer in education is justly deserved.

• The University of Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt University are famed for their global 5* research institutions
• The University of Edinburgh was ranked 20th in the world in the 2009 Times Higher Education Supplement World University Rankings
• In 2009 the Sunday Times University League Table ranked Napier University as the third highest performing modern Scottish University
• Edinburgh’s Royal College of Surgeons is one of the world’s oldest medical professional institutions
• Stevenson College Edinburgh (SCE) is one of the largest colleges in Scotland.

The area has been renowned as a centre for excellence for education for centuries. In 1583 Edinburgh established “Townis College”, the first Scottish civic university. Over the centuries, colleges and universities here have supported many famous sons and daughters including: Alexander Graham Bell, Gordon Brown, Charles Darwin, Judge David Edward, David Hume, Joseph Lister, Sir Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson. Honorary degrees have also been awarded to the likes of Ian Rankin, JK Rowling, Michael Palin and Alexander McCall Smith.