Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland and is the second largest in the country. It has a population of around 490,000 people and is home to the Scottish Parliament. The Edinburgh Fringe is a great mark of culture in the city and is seen as the largest international arts festival in the world. It takes place every year. The city is best known for its education, particular in the field of medicine, literature, science and engineering. The University of Edinburgh was founded in 1582 and is ranked 17th in the World University Rankings. It educates around 21,000 students and its famous alumni include Charles Darwin, Alexander Graham Bell and Joseph Lister. It’s a very tricky university to get into, as it receives around 50,000 applications every year but can only accept around 11% of these.
There are about 95 primary schools and around 25 secondary schools in Edinburgh which are all administered by the City of Edinburgh Council. Also in Edinburgh is The Royal High School which is one of the oldest schools in Scotland and in the world. Many independent and private schools run in Edinburgh including George Watson’s College, Merchiston Castle School and Edinburgh Academy.
Edinburgh has one Gaelic primary school; Bun-sgoil Taobh na Pàirce. There are three other universities in Edinburgh; Queen Margaret University, Heriot-Watt University and Napier Technical College. Queen Margaret University is located on the border of Edinburgh while Edinburgh Napier University sits in the south of the city. Queen Margaret University was originally a women-only university to improve the education and diets of families in the working class but by 1877 it was open to all. The university specialises in medical and healthcare fields, as well as other sciences. Heriot-Watt is a specialist mechanics institute and the world’s first of its kind. It has campuses out in Malaysia, London and Dubai.
Popular searched areas in and around Edinburgh include:-
- Colinton
- Corstorphine
- Gorgie
- Hillside
- Liberton
- Morningside
- New Town
- Newington
- Old Town
- Pilton
- Stockbridge
- Trinity
- West End