St Andrew's College of Education was formed in 1981 with the merger of Notre Dame College of Education Glasgow, Scotland, and Craiglockhart College of Education, Edinburgh, Scotland. Notre Dame Training College was opened in 1895 in response to the demands for trained Catholic teachers in Glasgow from both the Scottish Education Department and the Catholic authorities in Scotland. Before then, provision of trained Catholic teachers came from St. Mary's College for men in Hammersmith and Wandsworth, London, England, and Mount Pleasant College in Liverpool, England, for women. Notre Dame College of Education was managed by the Sisters of Notre Dame, an Order for whom the commitment to train teachers was included in the Vows of Congregation. Charles Petre Eyre, Archbishop of Glasgow, approached the Sisters of Notre Dame and with approval of the Superior at Namur, Belgium, the Sisters undertook the foundation of a training college for women in Dowanhill, Glasgow. In January 1895 the College opened with 21 female students.
A second Catholic training college for women was founded in Edinburgh by the Society of the Sacred Heart, and Craiglockhart College officially opened on 20 October 1920. In 1920, a fully integrated national system of teacher training was created and control of training colleges passed into the hands of the National Committee for the Training of Teachers. Provisional Committees were linked to the four ancient universities in Scotland and each Catholic college was governed by a Committee of Management consisting of ten members; five elected by the Catholic Education Council, three by the Provincial Committee and two by the National Committee. In 1959, the National Committee for the Training of Teachers was replaced by the Scottish Council for the Training of Teachers and the Training Colleges were renamed Colleges of Education. Their responsibilities were extended to provide shortened and in-service courses. The Colleges were run by a Board of Governors comprised of representatives of the local Education Authority, the University and the Church. In addition, a Board of Studies was to be set up from within the College's own staff, (which changed name to the Academic Board in 1987) and a Student Representative Council to be elected from the student body.
In 1967 , male students were admitted to Notre Dame College and the first in-service courses were offered. Due to serious problems of overcrowding at Dowanhill, expansion plans were considered. The site of the former St Peter's College at Bearsden was acquired and the new building was formally opened on 05 June 1968, and used concurrently with the Dowanhill site. The new Bachelor of Education Degree was approved by the Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA) in 1971 for secondary teaching and in 1979 for primary teaching. In the same year the Dowanhill building was finally vacated and the entire college was situated at the Bearsden site. With the decline of student numbers after the mid-1970s, Notre Dame College of Education and Craiglockhart College of Education merged in 1981 to form St Andrew's College of Education, a National Catholic College with a lay Principal as Executive Head. In 1991 , St Andrew's became an associate college of the University of Glasgow , with degrees being conferred by the University. In 1999 , St Andrew's College of Education merged with the University to form the new Faculty of Education.
From the guide to the Records of St Andrew's College of Education, higher education institution, Glasgow, Scotland, 1892-2000, (Glasgow University Archives Service)
