The University of Edinburgh has recently faced controversy surrounding comments made by popular online news site “The Tab” about Scottish students and the university’s culture. Considering recent events, many Scottish students have wanted to speak up about their experiences and help tackle problems that might be going unnoticed.
When speaking to Scottish students at the university, they described how the university has had a certain reputation that has often scared Scottish students away and made them opt for a more ‘local’ university like Heriot Watt or Edinburgh Napier. Many describe the reputation to be of a dominating English population, boarding schools, and snobbery, something which has been real factor to consider as to whether they want to attend the university.
In 2023, The University of Edinburgh reported that 29% of the population at Edinburgh was Scottish, and 25% was English, with an overwhelming majority of international students with the percentage being 42%.
Although Scottish students outweigh English students there is still a prevalent problem to do with classism and attitudes between the two nationalities. The Student spoke to a range of Scottish students to ask how their experiences have been at the university. A second year History and Politics student spoke about why she thought these differing attitudes existed, “I think one of the reasons a lot of Scottish students feel so pushed out is that since university is free, Scottish students are predominantly working and lower middle class. A lot of the comments thrown around by students who were privately educated feels classist, and the exclusion of Scottish students feels that way too.”
Students aren’t having issues with the differing nationalities, it’s the backgrounds of certain students that are causing the exclusion and unhappiness for Scottish students. Many other students that were interviewed felt the same.
A third year Biomedical science student spoke about the work experience opportunities some students can access. The student noted that at the Kings Buildings the issue did not seem to be as prevalent but agreed with the others that there was an obvious divide between students. She spoke about returning to university after the summer and hearing about work experiences her classmates had completed. She quickly realised that the family connections some students had, meant they would have a greater chance of becoming successful, simply due to who their parents are.
A second year Spanish student remembered an interaction she had in first year, when an English student came up to her and asked what her name was, what course she was studying, what school she went to and what her parents did for a living.
“When she asked me, I thought to myself that it didn’t matter what my parents did because I’m not them.”
Many students discussed their experiences of being Scottish and attending Edinburgh. They spoke about how their dialects were mocked and not understood, with words like “aye” causing comments from fellow English students. One girl said that her Scottish accent prompted the question “do you know what sparkling water is?”
Many Scots have felt overlooked, laughed at, and not taken seriously in their own country. Comments that were made in jest were taken to heart by these students, and it impacted their time at the university.
Due to recent events, the Scottish Social Mobility Society (SSMS) was formed. Shanley Breese, a fourth year Law student, and James Leitch a third year Economics student saw what was happening around them and were also hurt by the jokes that had been made about Scottish people. They decided to create the SSMS to have a place for Scottish students to talk about their experiences and feel heard. The University of Edinburgh has multiple societies for students to find other students with the same nationality, like the African and Caribbean society, the Polish society, or the Latin American society, among many others. However, Shanley and James realised that there wasn’t a society for Scottish students and due to the current discourse, it was a society that the university really needed.
Within their first week of running, they received over 200 messages from students talking about their experiences. James and Shanley say that this was their overwhelming sign that the SSMS was well overdue, and they are glad students now have a safe space where they can discuss issues. The SSMS will also act as representatives to the University for these problems so they can be highlighted and fixed.
In the wake of online controversy, the SMSS may represent a much-needed change in the attitudes students have about the place of Scottish students at the university.
Photo by Ben Guerin on Unsplash