There is a close connection between social class and social mobility because for most people ‘getting on’ is a matter of getting an education, and the more of it, the better the pay-off in terms of improving people’s life chances, their pay and prospects. In this chapter, Lindsay Paterson reviews the particular importance of education in Scotland. In particular, the chapter has three aims to:

• describe the structure of provision – for example, the schools, universities and other institutions which are responsible for education, and how these have changed over the 20th century.
• assess education as leading to social success or failure – for example, the extent to which education has been a route to social mobility.
• consider education as a form of culture: how has education shaped Scottish ideas about the nation?

Think about your own experience of education in the context of these three aims.