Making up only 25% of the school body, Scottish students have found themselves the unwanted target of discrimination from English snobs who often look down on, and mock them due to their accents or working-class backgrounds.
As one of the four ancient universities in Scotland, the University of Edinburgh is a renowned centre of academic excellence. Consistently ranking within the top 40 universities worldwide, it is no wonder that every year over 60,000 students from across the globe apply in hopes of securing a place to study. However, with only a quarter of students coming from Scotland, and the majority coming from England or overseas, tensions surrounding language and identity have arisen.
Interestingly, it has emerged that around 40% of students at the university attended private schools in the UK, institutions notorious for placing an emphasis on accents that closely resemble those from the south-east of England. In 2024, the University of Edinburgh released a warning for students coming from privileged backgrounds to avoid being ‘snobs’ towards others, especially their Scottish peers. This came after numerous complaints by students facing discrimination due to their accent, being regularly mocked for how they pronounce certain words, or cruelly mimicked.
A further example of this is Scottish students being asked to repeat themselves in class or being told that they are hard to understand when simply using words from Scots. All of this has led to students feeling misunderstood, alienated, or that they are being perceived as stupid, which is accent bias in action.
Accent bias across the UK
While the university has tried to tackle these issues by releasing an article with tips on how to counteract socio-economic microaggressions, such as encouraging students to “be curious about [other students’] interests and aspirations rather than their background”, the issue of linguistic prejudice still remains. In fact, accent bias is a form of discrimination that occurs not just in academic settings, but can happen in many other social situations such as job interviews or even the workplace.
A report published by the Sutton Trust, titled ‘Speaking up: Accents and Social Mobility’, examines the effects of accent bias. It highlights how people with accents from areas that are often associated with working class backgrounds or a particular regional identity, for example Scotland or the North of England, are often perceived as less intelligent, or even less professional, than those who speak with a standard English accent. When the BBC began using Received Pronunciation during their broadcasts at the start of the 20th century, the accent soon became associated with authority and was seen as a marker of class and power. As a result, Received Pronunciation speakers were considered to be cleverer than those with regional accents.
A study by Accent Bias Britain found similar results that supported the notion of a persistent hierarchy of accents. The study found that certain accents are perceived as more prestigious and others are seen as less favourable. They argued that these attitudes have remained largely unchanged over time and within the last 50 years the ‘Standard English’ accent was consistently rated the highest for prestige, with ‘Northern English’ or ‘Liverpool’ rated among some of the lowest. These subtle yet pervasive judgements against the way someone speaks can be harmful and lead to social divisions and unfair opportunities.
Power Hierarchies
This linguistic stereotyping goes beyond the way that someone’s speech is viewed; it’s also about who gets to be heard, respected, and included. With studies showing an overall preference towards speakers of standard south-east English, this potentially gives students from privileged backgrounds an advantage in settings where their voice is more likely to be heard and taken seriously.
Through attracting a high number of privately educated students, the University of Edinbugh runs the risk of replicating the class-based hierarchies found in other institutions such as Oxford or Cambridge Universities. As a qualifier, not all students with a private education are contributing towards linguistic discrimination, but Scottish, Northern and working-class accents are more likely to become marginalised.
Linguistic divide at the University
The University of Edinburgh presents a unique situation, as the majority of students are from England or private schools. As a major hub for research, tourism, and industry, Edinburgh is often viewed as an ‘English’ Scottish city, with residents considering themselves less Scottish and more British.
This contributes towards these linguistic divides, and Scottish students at the university may feel like the minority, and as though their accent stands out as less academic or unsuitable compared to their English peers. As such, students may also feel expected to modify their speech in academic settings. This can lead to linguistic insecurity among Scottish speakers, causing them to view their accent as somehow inferior to the clearly preferred standard English. Furthermore, students may be forced to style shift, a term which describes how someone may adjust their style of speech in a conversation for the comfort of others. An example of this could be using a toned-down Scottish accent that more resembles Received Pronunciation during academic settings in order to avoid any misunderstanding or mockery.
Tackling the bias
With all that said, what can we do to tackle this problem? Unfortunately, there isn’t a solution that can fix this challenge overnight, although there are numerous ways to get involved and help make positive changes. To begin with, it is important to start calling for greater awareness of accent bias. Modules taught under the Linguistics programmes offered at the University of Edinburgh are doing a great job at discussing the issues surrounding accent bias and aid in deconstructing the idea of certain accents being believed as the proper way to speak.
There are also opportunities to get involved with groups such as the Scottish Social Mobility Society, who are dedicated to advocating for Scottish students. They regularly host events, workshops and campaigns to help raise awareness and educate others on the importance of social mobility.
For those who aren’t connected with the university, projects completed by Accent Bias Britain and the Accentism Project can provide interesting insights into the current attitudes towards accents in Britain. As individuals, it is important for us to challenge any unconscious judgments we, or others around us, may have towards the way someone speaks. It is important to focus on what people say, not how they say it.
Accent bias doesn’t just concern language, but also power, class, and social hierarchies. Calling for this cultural change is important and something that the University of Edinburgh seems committed to dealing with. After all, shouldn’t a Scottish university be the place for Scottish voices to be celebrated, not shamed?
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