Teacher training since 1851

Brookes’ excellence in teacher training has its roots in two of our predecessor institutions: Westminster College and Lady Spencer-Churchill College of Education. Their evolution also tells the story of teacher training provision and of social and demographic trends over the last 150 years.

The impact of legislation and demography on teacher training

Westminster College is the oldest of the institutions that went on to make up Oxford Brookes University. It was founded in London in 1849, the first Methodist teacher training college in the country, and welcomed its first students in 1851.

The college’s fortunes were directly linked to national developments. The 1870 Education Bill extended school provision, and with it the demand for teachers. The increased intake led to capacity issues for Westminster College, resulting in a separate college being set up for women students.

The staff at Westminster College in 1872

This expansion of school provision continued over the decades with two increases in the school leaving age, from 14 to 15 in 1947, and to 16 in 1970. Fluctuation in the birth rate also affected the demand for trained teachers, with post-war increases followed by drops in the late 1930s and early 1970s. In 1938 Westminster College was planning a move out of London as a result of financial pressure due to reduced student intake. The move was stopped when the sale of their Horseferry Road site was blocked by government in order to be requisitioned as part of the war effort. 

War too had a major impact on the demand for trained teachers. After the First World War, 40 day students followed an accelerated course at Westminster College to help address teacher shortages, and after the Second World War 55 emergency teacher training colleges were set up. One of them was Bletchley Park College, based in the code-breakers' recently vacated home. It would later become Lady Spencer-Churchill College and eventually merge with Oxford Polytechnic. Numbers of trainee teachers also increased at Westminster, including students returning to complete their training after war service.

High demand continued in the 1950s, with a government target in 1956 to double the number of trained teachers by the end of the decade, confirmed in a 1958 White Paper planning expansion of teacher training colleges, and by the 1959 Crowther Report. Bletchley Park was made a permanent, council-controlled teacher training college in 1950, and Westminster, which was planning its move to Oxford, had to alter its plans to accommodate additional students. 

Integration of teacher training with university education 

The first Westminster College students to gain degrees, from the University of London, did so in 1894, and the College went on to accept students on university qualifications – six in 1904 and 33 by 1907. Eventually in 1924 Westminster College reached an agreement with the University of London and made it a requirement for its students to read for an external degree alongside their teacher training.

This evolution was reflected in national policy as the Board of Education announced in 1928 that it would no longer function as an examining body, requiring teacher training colleges to be linked to a university. Westminster became officially affiliated to the University of London, and the ‘Westminster Experiment’ created a four-year degree, allowing students to attend King’s, UCL or the LSE for three years before focusing solely on teacher training at Westminster in the final year.

Bletchley Park College also established university links when it joined with Culham College in having its training validated by Oxford University in 1951. The new alliance formed the Oxford Institute of Education, which Westminster College would also later join.

The next step in turning teaching into an all-graduate profession was the introduction of a BEd degree following the 1963 Robbins Report, which also called for teacher training colleges to be renamed ‘colleges of education’ to emphasise the academic content of the courses. Following the 1972 James Report a White Paper introduced a three-year BEd and four-year honours BEd.

From Westminster and Bletchley Park to Oxford

The first of the two colleges to move to Oxford was Westminster. The move was decided on in 1954 and negotiations with Oxford University about course validation began. The new buildings opened in 1959, while preparations were also made for a new three-year training course.

The chapel at Harcourt Hill under construction

In 1960 Bletchley Park’s lease ran out and a site at Wheatley was identified for a new, larger college to be built. It opened five years later, and was renamed the Lady Spencer-Churchill College of Education after Winston Churchill’s widow.  

The Lady Spencer-Churchill College of Education, Wheatley, by Frank Boothman, 1965

An ongoing issue was the relationship of the two colleges with Oxford University. The University agreed in 1966 that students from Lady Spencer-Churchill College and Westminster College could study for an Oxford University BEd. However Westminster’s request to function as an Oxford college and to have its students read for Oxford BAs was turned down. The relationship worsened during the 1970s, with an attempt on Oxford University’s part to sever links with educational colleges defeated in 1973 but eventually carried through two years later.

By then the Lady Spencer-Churchill College had moved to having its degrees validated by the Council for National Academic Awards and was considering amalgamation with Oxford Polytechnic. The merger was completed in 1976. Westminster also moved to validation by the CNAA in 1977.

In 1990 Oxford University considered a renewed link with Westminster, and this went ahead in 1992, when degrees were again validated by the University. However tensions remained over Westminster’s links to the Open University, which validated its BA degrees, and in 1999 the College decided to go ahead with a merger with Oxford Brookes University.

Today the School of Education at Oxford Brookes is one of the largest in the country and trains teachers from early years to post-compulsory education as well as offering professional development and academic programmes at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

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