The first university medical school to be established in the United Kingdom was at the University of Edinburgh in 1726, followed in 1744 by the University of Glasgow. In 1817 Glasgow became the first British university to offer a separate degree in surgery, the Master of Surgery. However, other Scottish universities – St Andrews and the two universities in Aberdeen – also offered medical degrees, often "in absentia" and without examination, despite not having medical schools. In England, the two universities (Oxford and Cambridge) were only sporadically interested in medical teaching, which was mainly carried out in the London hospitals. It was not until the establishment of the University of London in 1836, however, that students at the hospital medical schools could earn degrees. Following the passing of the Medical Act 1858 and the establishment of the General Medical Council, Scottish graduates gained the right to practice in England and degrees in both medicine and surgery became the norm. The Scottish practice of awarding the Doctor of Medicine (MD) as a first degree was abolished by the university commissioners appointed under the Universities (Scotland) Act 1858, it being replaced by the Bachelor of Medicine and Master of Surgery (MS), with the MD becoming a higher degree as in England. The commissioners under the Universities (Scotland) Act 1889 completed the reform by replacing the MS with the Bachelor of Surgery, the MS joining the MD as a higher degree and the initial professional qualification taking on its modern form as the double Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery degree.