Edinburgh’s intellectual credentials are outstanding: a major centre of the enlightenment, inspiration to authors as diverse as Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stephenson, Muriel Spark, Alexander McColl Smith and JK Rowling.

Edinburgh University

Edinburgh University is a renowned centre for teaching and research. It was the sixth university to be established in the British Isles, making it one of the ancient universities of Scotland and it is amongst the largest in the United Kingdom. Alumni include Adam Smith, Gordon Brown, Alexander Graham Bell, Robin Cook, Charles Darwin, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, David Hume, James Clerk Maxwell, Robert Louis Stevenson.

It’s international influence is not only the great contributions of it’s alumni:

• Queen’s University, a Canadian university founded in 1841, was modelled after the University of Edinburgh, and continues to display strong Scottish roots and traditions today.
• McGill University, another Canadian university, founded in 1821, has strong Edinburgh roots and links to the University of Edinburgh as McGill’s first (and, for several years, its only) faculty, Medicine, was founded by four physicians/surgeons who had trained in Edinburgh.
• The University of Pennsylvania, an American Ivy League university, has long-standing historical links with the University of Edinburgh, including modelling UPenn’s School of Medicine after Edinburgh’s.

Edinburgh University may be the oldest and the best known university in Edinburgh, but it is only one of the higher educations institutes based here. Others include:

Herriot Watt University

Heriot-Watt University is one of the leading UK universities for business and industry. It has an international reputation for innovative education, enterprise and leading edge but practical research. Edinburgh Business School, the Graduate School of Business at Heriot-Watt University, Scotland, offers a range of postgraduate programmes in business and management, including one of the most popular online distance learning MBA programmes in the world.

Napier University

Napier University is newer and offers a wide range of practical courses for both undergraduate and postgraduate study.

Oueen Margaret University

Queen Margaret University which was inaugurated on 5 July 2007 offers professionally relevant courses are designed to meet the changing needs of students, employers and society.

Edinburgh College of Art

Edinburgh College of Art has an international reputation as one of the most successful independent art colleges in the UK.

Moray House School of Education

Moray House School of Education was created in August 1998 when Moray House Institute of Education merged with the University of Edinburgh. This merger brought together Moray House, with its origins in the educational developments of the 1830s, and the University’s Department of Education which was the first such department to be established in the Commonwealth.

Scottish Agricultural College

Scottish Agricultural College is an innovative, knowledge-based organisation, supporting the development of land-based industries and communities

Professional Education

Continuing professional Education is available at the universities and business schools and at the following specialist institutions:

• For Financial services – BPP
• Royal College of Surgeons
• Royal College of Physicians Edinburgh
• For lawyers – The WS Society

Private Colleges

Many private colleges that support international students have chosen to base themselves in Edinburgh and include:

• Basil Paterson College
• Edinburgh School of English
• Wallace College