Moray House Institute of Education

Moray House Institute of Education was constituted in 1991, as the result of a legal agreement between Moray House College of Education and Heriot-Watt University. From 1982 to 1991, qualifications issued by Moray House College of Education had been validated by the Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA). These years had also seen teaching become an all-graduate profession, with Moray Houss's 3-year Diploma course being replaced with a 4-year BEd degree in 1984. By 1989, the work of the CNAA was under review, and the body would eventually cease functioning in 1993. Moray House had thus to seek new validation arrangements for its degree courses. It entered into negotiations with Heriot-Watt University, and the two bodies issued a joint 'Statement of Intent' in June 1989, committing them to closer academic collaboration and formal institutional linkage. Following further consultations, an agreement was drawn up and eventually approved by the Secretary of State in February 1991. Students of the newly constituted Moray House Institute of Education would be matriculated students of Heriot-Watt, receiving degrees from that university’s Senate.

By the mid-1990s, however, difficulties were emerging in the relationship between Moray House and Heriot-Watt. Moray House staff felt, in particular, that quality assurance arrangements for their courses should be delegated to them. This came to a head in 1995, and an informal approach was made to the University of Edinburgh, leading to the merger of the two bodies and the foundation of a new Faculty of Education in 1998.

Sources

• Robert D. Anderson, 'The Construction of a Modern University', in Robert D. Anderson, Michael Lynch, and Nicholas Phillipson, The University of Edinburgh: An Illustrated History (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2003), pp. 103-207.
• Hugh Perfect, 'History of Professional Training at Moray House' [[1], accessed 7 December 2017]