Central institution

Scottish Central Institutions

Central Institutions were a range of higher education institutes in 20th Century Scotland responsible for providing degree-level education but emphasising teaching rather than research. Some had a range of courses similar to polytechnics elsewhere in the UK while others were more specialised such as the art colleges and the conservatoire.

They included Colleges and Institutes of Technology, Art Colleges and Agricultural Colleges. Napier College and Glasgow and Paisley Colleges of Technology eventually changed their names to include the word Polytechnic.

The number of CIs varied but in 1988 the list included the following, several of which now have university status.

• Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee (now part of the University of Dundee)

• Dundee Institute of Technology, Dundee (now University of Abertay Dundee)

• East of Scotland College of Agriculture, Edinburgh (now part of the Scottish Agricultural College)

• Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh

• Glasgow College of Technology, Glasgow (later Glasgow Polytechnic, now part of Glasgow Caledonian University)

• The Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow

• Napier Polytechnic (then University) of Edinburgh , Edinburgh

• North of Scotland College of Agriculture, Aberdeen (now part of the Scottish Agricultural College)

• Paisley College of Technology, Paisley (later Paisley Polytechnic, now University of Paisley)

• Queen Margaret College, Edinburgh (now Queen Margaret University College)

• The Queen's College, Glasgow (now part of Glasgow Caledonian University)

• Robert Gordon's Institute of Technology, Aberdeen (now The Robert Gordon University)

• The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Glasgow

• Scottish College of Textiles, Galashiels (now part of Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh)

• The West of Scotland College, Auchincruive (now part of the Scottish Agricultural College)

Another CI, Leith Nautical College, Leith, had been closed in 1987 by merger into the further eductaion sector.

Some subjects were not taught at the CIs, for example teacher training was only carried out by the Colleges of Education which later merged with Universities, and Sociology was only offered by the Universities.

Like the designation Polytechnic, Central Institution is not currently used since most of its members have entered the university sector.

Sources

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1988/Uksi_19881447_en_2.htm

http://www.learningservices.gcal.ac.uk/archives/queens_college/index.html

http://www.archiveshub.ac.uk/news/0504leith.html