St. Clare's, Oxford is a registered educational charity based in Oxford.
The college was founded in 1953 as a place where students from Europe could resume contact with Britain after the war. From this, the present College has evolved with the aim of advancing international understanding and academic excellence in a community where students from different countries live and study together, and while doing so learn about and from one another. During the academic year, there are over 40 full-time and around 40 part-time teachers, and over 100 administrative, residential and support staff.
"St. Clare's, Oxford" operates as a charitable company with a board of governors/directors chaired by Mr Richard Dick MA (Cantab).
St. Clare's overall mission, reflecting its origin, is 'to advance international education & understanding' and this characterises all the diverse operations of the College.
Statement of values and beliefs
St. Clare's welcomes students and staff of all nationalities and cultures who will benefit from, and contribute to, our learning community. Living and studying together, we learn from one another. We are enriched and challenged by a diversity of views and ideas. In this environment, international education and understanding is advanced.
The College aims to provide an environment where our students and our staff:
- develop their intellects, their imagination and independence of mind
- engage in creative, aesthetic and physical activities
- learn from, and contribute to, our local community
- develop a sense of environmental awareness and responsibility to the international community
- value honesty, compassion and intercultural understanding
- take personal responsibility for work and conduct
Our shared experience is challenging, rigorous and stimulating and is supported by student-staff relations based on mutual respect and high expectations. We are committed to extending this experience to students from a wide range of backgrounds.
St. Clare’s seeks to nurture in our students a life-long passion for learning and an enduring commitment to global citizenship.
An overview of the College
St. Clare's offers courses to up to 400 students throughout the year in three areas:
- IB courses - International Baccalaureate Diploma, Preparatory-IB, and in the summer IB introduction and IB review courses
- Study Abroad - Liberal Arts Programme, University Foundation Course, English plus Academic Subjects
- English Language courses
Our activities take place at two locations, about 1 km apart:
The Banbury Road campus - the base for courses for young adults aged 15-19. IB courses and summer English Language courses take place at this site, which also houses general administration and the College Library.
The Bardwell Road Centre is the adult centre of St. Clare's, where English Language courses for people age 17 and over are based.
In total up to 400 students of over 50 nationalities will be studying at St. Clare's at any one time. Most will be residential in College accommodation, while some will live at home, and others with local families.
Central teaching and administrative facilities at the Banbury Road campus are based in eight Victorian / Edwardian houses, with some purpose-built accommodation in their grounds, and include a hall, the Library (containing over 30,000 volumes), four science laboratories, art studio, computer rooms, music rooms, dining room, café, teaching rooms and administrative offices.
The Bardwell Road Centre comprises two very large Victorian houses, incorporating teaching rooms, English Language library, self-access centre and computer rooms, administration, dining room, common room and residential accommodation.
Up to 325 students live in College accommodation, some in houses close to central buildings, and others in senior, self-catering houses, with, in all cases, a resident warden or house manager.
St. Clare's academic year courses
International Baccalaureate Diploma
Around 240 students study the two-year International Baccalaureate Diploma, an entrance qualification for all British universities and for most other universities in the world. Students come from a wide range of countries (about 45) and cultures, with about 35% being native English-speaking. Students choose St. Clare's because of its international ethos and rigorous academic atmosphere as well as the lively nature of the IB programme. Students take six subjects, including two languages, undertake a research project, a course in critical thinking (Theory of Knowledge) and extra-curricular activities to embrace creativity, action and service. The IB is taught in over 3,000 schools in over 140 countries. St. Clare's began teaching the programme in 1977 and is one of the principal IB Diploma institutions in the world in terms of student numbers, staff expertise and examination record. There is also a one-year Pre-IB course for up to 40 students who either need to develop their English language skills or some additional academic preparation before starting the two-year IB diploma course.
St. Clare's English Language courses
St. Clare's offers a wide variety of English Language courses. St. Clare's was among the earliest language schools in Britain and was a founder members of ARELS (The Association of Recognised English Language Services) now EnglishUK. Courses for up to 150 older students (aged 17+) are based at the Bardwell Road Centre. Students range from graduates or undergraduates of foreign universities, attracted by the College's general facilities and activities which complement class work, to mature professionals taking short intensive courses. Long-stay students with strong English and an appropriate academic background often join the English plus Academic Subjects. Separate short and long English Language courses are offered throughout the year, and an increasing number of students take 1:1 courses.
During the summer months there is an extensive range of short English Language courses for students age 10-15 and 15-17. These run at the Banbury Road campus and at our dedicated junior programme site.
Senior Academic Programmes (Liberal Arts, English plus Academic Subjects and the University Foundation Course)
The Liberal Arts Programme is designed specifically for university and gap year students from the USA and elsewhere who wish to supplement their own academic programmes with a semester or year of study in England. Students from American universities and colleges who successfully complete approved courses at St. Clare’s secure academic credit at their home institutions.
The English plus Academic Subjects programme is designed for ‘gap year’ students who have deferred entry to university or ‘pre-master’ students preparing for further study; entry is limited to students who possess the requisite language skills to pursue academic study in English while preparing for an externally validated English examination.
The University Foundation Course is for international students who have completed secondary education in their own country and is designed to improve students’ English and academic skills in preparation for entry to a university. There are two entry points in the Autumn semester: September and November. A higher level of IELTS is required for admission in November. Two academic streams are offered in addition to the compulsory modules in Global Issues (autumn semester) and Statistics (spring semester). These are Business and International Affairs. UFC students receive ongoing careers and higher education advice and support. Students have progressed to universities such as City, Durham, Edinburgh, Essex, Royal Holloway, Queen Mary, UCL, Bocconi (Italy) and EHL (Switzerland).
The College - looking to the future
The College has a planned capital development programme which has recently included the following major projects:
- Purchase of a large house at 127 Banbury Road for 24 students plus warden. An ambitious conversion and development project, costing £1.3 million, the house features many energy efficient measures – rain water is harvested, the house has been super-insulated and the lights are motion-sensitive so that electricity is not wasted – and was completed July 2010.
- One of our boarding houses, 14-16 Lathbury Road, has been extensively refurbished to provide accommodation for 29 students in ensuite rooms plus a self-contained flat for our residential warden at a cost of £1.4m.
- Modifications of other houses and campus buildings to modernise facilities and provide improved or new space.
- Work will commence in June 2013 on a large teaching building which will provide state of the art laboratory facilities as well as a set of spacious teaching rooms.
References and checks
All offers of employment and contracts are issued subject to satisfactory references and satisfactory outcomes on completion of all necessary checks, including criminal records and establishing the right to work in the UK. In some cases some or all of these checks will have been undertaken before an offer is made. Taking up employment will be subject to the satisfactory completion of all necessary procedures.
Under the National Minimum Standards for Boarding Schools, we are required to undertake additional checks on all employees.
Full written references, and phone references on quoted referees, including current employer, may be obtained before or after interview. You should indicate specifically if you wish St. Clare's to refrain from contacting your current employer.
Police checks / Criminal Records Bureau checks will also be undertaken, for which employees / prospective employees are required to provide information and consent. A Certificate of Good Conduct is acceptable if you are returning from abroad.
Contact with all previous employers where the employee has worked with children or vulnerable adults is also required. This is to establish the reason for leaving the position. On occasions, further information and a reference may be sought in writing, by phone or by other means. By providing details of previous employment, it is assumed that the employee/prospective employee has given consent for this contact, and no specific consent of the employee / prospective employee will be sought.
Satisfactory completion of a health questionnaire.
The College reserves the right to contact any previous employer and to make any additional enquiries it considers necessary in order to meet its responsibilities in relation to employment of people working with students who are under the age of 18.
Policy documents available for all applicants:
On request copies of:
- CRB Code of Practice
- copy of the Recruitment of Ex-Offenders Policy
- copy of the Secure Storage Policy
Important notes
- Smoking is severely restricted on the premises, and actively discouraged
- Parking restrictions operate in north Oxford. There are very few spaces (2 hour limit) to park in the roads around the College. We offer a discounted bus pass run in partnership with the local bus company.