University rugby union leagues in Scotland| Sport | Rugby union |
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| No. of teams | 28 Men's (six divisions), 8 Women's (one division) |
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| Country |  Scotland |
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University rugby union in Scotland is predominantly organised through BUCS, the British Universities Sports Association. Unlike in England and Wales, where a pyramid system of 4 regions and a Premier above exists, the Scottish system is separate. However, Scottish universities do receive places in the end of season knock-out tournaments which decide overall British champions (see individual division entries below). However, due to the small size of the divisions (with clubs playing either 6 or 8 fixtures per season), some Scottish universities organise teams to play in regional or national leagues as part of the general Scottish league system for clubs, the Scottish League Championship. In addition, some universities organise University Saturday Leagues for their 2nd XV (see below), or they organise informal friendly matches. The following universities have teams playing elsewhere in Scottish Rugby:
Rugby union, commonly known in most of the world simply as rugby, is a contact team sport which originated in England in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its most common form, a game is between two teams of 15 players using an oval-shaped ball on a rectangular field with H-shaped goalposts at each end.
The Scottish League Championship is the domestic rugby union league system within Scotland. Operated by the Scottish Rugby Union, the championship was founded in 1973 as the first formalised national league system within any home nations country. The new six division championship replaced the haphazard "unofficial championship" system that had been in operation until that time. The top division is the Scottish Premiership.
- Edinburgh University RFC play in Division One of the Scottish National Leagues.
- Royal Dick Veterinary College RFC, which is part of the University of Edinburgh, play in Division Two of the Scottish National League, East. They do not participate in BUSA or USL leagues.
- Aberdeen University RFC, St Andrews University RFC and Stirling University RFC play in Division One of the Scottish National League, Caledonia.
- Edinburgh University RFC, 2nd XV play in the 2nd Division(East) of The Scottish 2nd XV League.
- Edinburgh University RFC, 3rd XV play in the 3rd Division (East)of The Scottish 2nd XV League.
- Edinburgh University RFC, 4th XV(Freshers) play in SRU development leagues
- Edinburgh University WRFC play in the Premier Division of the SWRU League. They participate in the BUSA Premier North league, whilst their 2nd XV plays in the SUSA League.
- Dundee University WRFC, Glasgow University WRFC and The Saints WRFC (St Andrews University) play in the First Division of the SWRU League.
Edinburgh University Rugby Football Club is a leading rugby union side based in Edinburgh, Scotland which currently plays its fixtures in the Edinburgh Regional Shield competition and the British Universities Premiership. It is one of the eight founder members of the Scottish Rugby Union. In the years prior to the SRU's introduction of club leagues in 1973 and the advent of professionalism in the 1990s, EURFC was a major club power and it won the 'unofficial' Scottish Club championship several times. It remains a club with an all-student committee, and is only open to students of the University of Edinburgh.
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1582, is the sixth oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's ancient universities. The university has five main campuses in the city of Edinburgh, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university. The university played an important role in leading Edinburgh to its reputation as a chief intellectual centre during the Age of Enlightenment, and helped give the city the nickname of the Athens of the North.
Aberdeen University Rugby Football Club (AURFC) is the rugby union team at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland.
Scotland is allocated the current proportion of places in the BUSA end of season knock-out tournaments:
- 2 of the 16 places in the BUCS Championship
- 2 of the 16 places in the BUCS Trophy
- 2 of the 16 places in the BUCS Shield
- 2 of the 32 places in the BUCS Plate
- 8 of the 32 places in the BUCS Vase
- 2 of the 16 places in the BUCS Women's Championship
A Scottish Universities Cup is also held, usually towards the end of the season.
BUSA Scottish Conference, 2010-2011
Promotion and relegation has usually been one up, one down, but with play-offs for teams at the top of the groups in Division 3 and Division 4. The teams play in the Scottish conference.
BUSA fixtures are predominantly played on Wednesdays, as this is (traditionally) a university half-day, without afternoon classes.
Division 1A
The top two teams advance to the BUSA Championship, a UK-wide knock-out tournament. The bottom two teams advance to the BUSA Trophy.
Dundee are the current Scottish champions from the 2011/12 season.
Division 2A
The top two teams advance to the BUSA Shield. The bottom two teams advance to the BUSA Plate.
Division 3A
The University of St Andrews Rugby Football Club is an affiliated member of the University of St Andrews Athletic Union in Fife, Scotland. It was founded in 1858, making it one of the oldest football clubs in the world. In 2008, the club celebrated its sesquicentennial year, marking its 150th anniversary. Details: |
Division 4A
Top two teams in both pools advance to the BUSA Vase.
Division 5A
Top two teams in both pools advance to the BUSA Vase.
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British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) is the governing body for university sport in the United Kingdom. BUCS was formed in June 2008 following a merger of the British Universities Sports Association (BUSA) and University College Sport (UCS) organisations. BUCS is responsible for organising more than 50 inter-university sports within the UK and representative teams for the World University Championships and the World University Games.
The Scottish Premiership is the highest level club division in Scotland's national rugby union league divisions, and therefore part of the Scottish League Championship.
The Edinburgh Academical Football Club, also known as Edinburgh Accies or Edinburgh Acads, is a rugby union club in Edinburgh, Scotland. At present it plays in Scottish National League Division One league, the second tier of Scottish club rugby. The club's home ground is Raeburn Place, Edinburgh. They are coached by Derek O'Riordan and Iain Berthinussen.
Scottish Premiership Division Two is one of Scotland's national rugby union league divisions, and therefore part of the Scottish League Championship – being the middle division in the Scottish Premiership.
Until the 2009–10 season, the best teams were promoted to the Scottish Premiership Division One whereas the bottom teams were relegated to the Third Division. Since the 2010–11 season, the division merges with the Scottish Premiership Division One. After 11 matches, the top eight teams in Division One play each other in Premier A. The bottom four teams join the top four teams of Division Two to form Premier B and the bottom eight teams of Division Two form Premier C.
Rugby union in Scotland is a popular team sport. Scotland's national side today competes in the annual Six Nations Championship and the Rugby World Cup. The first ever international rugby match was played on 27 March 1871, at Raeburn Place in Edinburgh, when Scotland defeated England in front of 4,000 people. Professional clubs compete in the Pro14, European Rugby Champions Cup and European Rugby Challenge Cup, while the Scottish League Championship exists for over 200 amateur and semi-professional clubs, as does a knock-out competition, the Scottish Cup. The governing body, the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU), is one of the ten first-tier member nations of World Rugby.
The Scottish National League Division One is the second tier of the Scottish League Championship for amateur rugby union clubs in Scotland.
The University of St Andrews Football Club was formed in the late 19th Century at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. The Club currently has three teams participating in the Kingdom of Fife AFA and in the BUCS League.
The Oxford University Rugby Football Club is the rugby union club of the University of Oxford. The club contests The Varsity Match every year against Cambridge University at Twickenham.
In the sport of shinty, there are several clubs which play under the banner of one of the Scottish universities. However, these clubs are not always student teams in the strictest sense of the word, and have a long history of participation at national senior level. Since the introduction of a summer season, only the Aberdeen University Shinty Club continues to play in the senior leagues, although Edinburgh, Glasgow and St Andrews have all done so in the past.
The Scottish Women's Rugby Union (SWRU) was the national governing body for women's rugby union in Scotland. It was responsible for the governance of women's rugby union within Scotland. Its role was all encompassing. It went from youth recruitment, through administrating all senior based competition, through to the performance and management of the Scotland women's national rugby union team.
Exeter University Rugby Football Club (EURFC) is the rugby football club of the University of Exeter. The men's Saturday XV currently play in South West Premier - a level 5 league in the English rugby union system - following their promotion from Tribute South West 1 West via the promotion play-off at the end of the 2017-18 season. The University 1st XV are part of the ten teamBUCS Super Rugby competition for university sides, the club who have a further eight team taking part in different BUCS leagues.
Domestic club rugby union within Scotland remains a predominantly amateur sport; however, semi-professional and professional outfits have been created in recent decades to participate in cross-border competitions.
The Scottish National League Division Two is the third tier of the Scottish League Championship for amateur rugby union clubs in Scotland.
The BUCS Football League is the Association Football league system of British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS). It is the largest sport in UK higher education, with over 450 men's and women's teams competing in 100 leagues.
Highland Rugby Football Club is a rugby union amateur club from the city of Inverness that compete in the Scottish National League Division Two, the Highland Alliance League and the Caledonia Regional League. They have a number of teams taken from different age groups including micros and minis, S1 and S2, Under-15, Under-16, Under-18 and senior first and second teams. They play their rugby at Canal park in Inverness.
Aberdeen University Football Club is an association football team representing the University of Aberdeen.
