From its origins in the 16th-century reformation, Scottish education was once considered the finest in the world. But by the first years of the 20th century the system was struggling to cope with the country's sprawling industrialised cities. Children were taught by rote, by crude repetition. Tens of thousands of Irish Catholic immigrants felt unwelcome in the "Kirk" schools and established their own - an issue that still polarises opinions today.

A century of Scottish education reveals how Scottish schools bonded the country together in shared experiences, from school milk to shiny new comprehensives. The teaching of Scots and Gaelic and, of course, the dreaded "tawse", or strap. Show less