by Stephen J McKinney and Roger Edwards

Stephen J McKinney and Roger Edwards write the first in a short series of articles exploring the 1872 Education Act and its consequences for Scottish society.

In 2022 we commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Education (Scotland) Act of 1872. It was the most important Education Act for compulsory school education in Scotland. It is regarded as a key Act in relation to the Education (Scotland) Act of 1918, which offered state funding for the denominational schools that had not transferred to the national system of board schools as a result of the 1872 Act.

A wide and bewildering variety of schools existed in Scotland prior to 1872. They were mostly for the elementary (now referred to as primary) stage and included ragged schools, adventure schools and four main types of Christian denominational schools: Church of Scotland Schools (of different models) Free Church Schools, Catholic schools and Episcopalian schools.