Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) is an art, design, creative and performing arts school in Edinburgh, the oldest and largest in Scotland, providing higher education in art and design, architecture, history of art and music disciplines for over two thousand University of Edinburgh students. ECA has an international reputation as one of the most successful art colleges in Europe; its stated mission is to promote critical inquiry through scholarly research, learning, teaching and education in creative practice. Edinburgh College of Art is a School in the College of Humanities and Social Science, University of Edinburgh. ECA is mainly located in the Old Town of Edinburgh, overlooking the Grassmarket; the Lauriston Place campus is not far from the University of Edinburgh's George Square campus.