Warnborough College

The past 36  years have seen Warnborough evolve into a global institution. At the heart of the college, since its inception, has been its commitment to providing quality education relevant for the times and international in outlook. Warnborough College (UK) is accredited by the Accreditation Service for International Colleges (ASIC) as a Premier College as a result of its excellent performance accross all areas of its UK operation

Our History in Brief

Founded in Oxford

From its very beginning in 1973 as a small, independent college for adult education in Oxford, Warnborough College has been committed to academic quality based on its Oxford roots. Originally founded for visiting American students keen to experience the Oxford Socratic method of learning, Warnborough soon acquired an increasing number of international students who had the opportunity to study English and take courses for university entrance.

Immediate Support

There was considerable support for the founding of Warnborough. Former Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, then Minister of Education, sent her warmest wishes for a successful future. Sir Christopher White, Bart., the Lord Mayor of Oxford, and other dignitaries spoke at the inaugural reception held at Rhodes House, Oxford of the enthusiasm that the college had received in Oxford.

From its beginning, Warnborough obtained sponsorship from many American educators including the Presidents of Duke University, the Catholic University of America, Hampshire College, Bradford College, Hobart and William Smith Colleges; the Chancellors of North Carolina State University and the Claremont Colleges; the Bishops of the Dioceses of South Carolina, California and Western Massachusetts; and the President of the National Council of Churches of America.

Programmes Offered

Over the next few decades, Warnborough increased the types of programmes to cater for a diverse international student market. Popular International Summer Schools (ISS) were held at locations in Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh and London.

A study abroad programme in Australia was successfully launched in 1987. In the same year, the Archbishop of Canterbury authorised the appointment of an Honorary Chaplain to Warnborough.

The college has also been an accredited centre for the University of Oxford Delegacy of Local Examinations. It is also a test centre for Educational Testing Services (ETS), Princeton, New Jersey, USA  for their various examinations (TOEFL, TSE, GRE, etc.).

In 1996, the college embraced the new e-Learning technology to offer courses by distance learning. Today, this technology forms the backbone of our short courses, certificates and diplomas.

Warnborough in Canterbury

Warnborough College relocated to the famous cathedral and university city of Canterbury in 2001. Like Oxford, Canterbury is steeped in history, being the first place in England where education was formalized. It is somewhat poetic that the Archbishop of Canterbury had appointed an honorary chaplain to Warnborough over a decade beforehand. It is also fitting that the Warnborough House in Canterbury is very similar in spirit and ethos to the original Warnborough House in Oxford.

PHILOSOPHY

Warnborough prizes both its independence and its international, multi-cultural and multi-racial student body and faculty. The college believes in forging links between academic disciplines, between the world of learning and the world of work and between nations, so many of which are represented by its culturally-heterogeneous student body. It is on the basis of these principles and values that Warnborough provides its special education, which features:

• A commitment to academic freedom
• A disciplined exploration of ideas
• Rational discourse, clear thinking and articulate self-expression
• A tolerance of, and an appreciation for, intellectual and cultural differences in a spirit of global awareness and responsibility
• Fostering of international understanding through mutual co-operation among all students

These are the main goals that we should like to see our students achieving.

Warnborough assures equal opportunity for all qualified persons without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, nationality, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation or veteran status in both the admission to and participation in its programmes and activities.

Our Courses and Programs

View all our UK-based and distance learning courses and programs.