United World Colleges

One of the most important things we can learn is how to understand each other.

This idea has been at the heart of what we do at UWC, ever since our first school was founded in 1962.

We believe that education can be about more than just personal advancement, or securing a place at university. It can inspire students to discover what connects us all as humans, and to act as champions for a world of peace, collaboration and understanding.

Where it started

“I regard it as the foremost task of ecation to ensure the survival of these qualities: an enterprising curiosity, an undefeatable spirit, tenacity in pursuit, readiness for sensible self-denial, and – above all – compassion.”

– Kurt Hahn (Founder of UWC)

In 1955, educational pioneer Kurt Hahn delivered a speech at the NATO Defense College in Paris. During his visit, he was inspired by the cooperation and loyalty shown by military men who had very recently been on opposite sides in World War Two.

There are three ways of trying to capture the young; one is to preach at them — I’m afraid that is a hook without a worm; the second is to coerce them… and to tell them ‘You must volunteer’… the third is an appeal which never fails, ‘You are needed.

Kurt Hahn

The first UWC school opened in 1962. Atlantic College was built on the idea that if young people from different backgrounds were educated together, they could build an understanding which could prevent future conflicts.

It was the height of the Cold War, and many saw the benefits of an idea that valued connection, compassion and service.

By the end of the 1960s, the United World Colleges name had been coined, and a movement started to become a reality.

Today there are 18 UWC schools and colleges and UWC is represented in more than 150 countries through our national committees. Since we opened our doors in 1962, over 60,000 students from over 180 countries have studied at UWC schools and colleges

Timeline

1962

UWC was founded with Atlantic admitting its first students, being hailed by The Times as “the most exciting experiment in education since the Second World War”.

1967

Lord Mountbatten becomes President of the movement, on condition of a concerted effort to internationalise; a year later, the growing movement was renamed the United World Colleges.

1970

National committees are created to promote the UWC movement in different countries and to select students for various colleges and schools.

1971

Singapore International School officially opens as an associate member of the UWC.

1974

Pearson College UWC opens in Victoria, Canada. Former Canadian Prime Minister and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Lester B Pearson was the inspiration behind the college.

1975

The Singapore International School becomes a full member of UWC, now called UWC South East Asia.

1978

HM King Charles III becomes President of UWC.

1981

Waterford Kamhlaba School in Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), founded in 1963 as a multi-racial school in opposition to South Africa’s apartheid policies, becomes Waterford Kamhlaba UWC of Southern Africa.

1982

Two more colleges, UWC-USA in New Mexico and UWC Adriatic in Italy, open.

1988

HM King Charles III and agronomist Dr Luis Marcano Coello helps establish a UWC college in Venezuela – Simón Bolívar UWC of Agriculture.

1990

UWC short courses begin, helping more young people benefit from our pioneering model of education.

1992

Li Po Chun UWC of Hong Kong opens.

1995

HM Queen Noor of Jordan and anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela become joint Presidents of UWC. UWC Red Cross Nordic in Norway opens a joint venture with the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, and the eight Nordic governments.

1997

UWC Mahindra College in Pune, India, opens.

1999

South Africa’s first black President Nelson Mandela becomes Honorary President of UWC.

2006

UWC Costa Rica, formerly the Costa Rica SOS Hermann Gmeiner International College, joins UWC. UWC Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina opens.

2009

UWC Maastricht joins UWC, merging two existing international schools – the International School Maastricht and the International Primary School Joppenhof.