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Atlantic College (formally the United World College of the Atlantic; alternatively styled UWC Atlantic College, UWCAC, or UWCA) is an
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...
boarding school in the
Vale of Glamorgan The Vale of Glamorgan ( cy, Bro Morgannwg ), often referred to as The Vale, is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It borders Bridgend County Borough to the west, Cardiff to the east, Rhondda Cynon Taf to the north, and the Bristol ...
in south
Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
. Founded in 1962, it was the first of the United World Colleges and was among the first educational institutions in the world to follow an international curriculum; it helped create the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme in the 1960s. In addition to the
IBDP The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) is a two-year educational programme primarily aimed at 16-to-19-year-olds in 140 countries around the world. The programme provides an internationally accepted qualification for entry into ...
, Atlantic College places student participation in community service at its core. It is known for its liberal and
progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...
education, its global ethos, and its strong focus on local and global sustainability. It is attended by approximately 350 students from more than 90 countries, the majority of whom are selected through their National Committees, which help fund their education through partial or full scholarships; around 60% of students receive some form of financial aid.


History

Atlantic College was founded by Kurt Hahn, a German educationalist who had previously set up
Gordonstoun School Gordonstoun School is a co-educational independent school for boarding and day pupils in Moray, Scotland. It is named after the estate owned by Sir Robert Gordon in the 17th century; the school now uses this estate as its campus. It is located ...
in
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...
, the Schule Schloss Salem and the Stiftung Louisenlund in
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...
, and the Outward Bound movement. Hahn founded the institution as a practical response to the search for new and peaceful solutions in a post-war world riven by political, racial and economic divisions. Hahn had been invited by British Air Marshal Sir Lawrence Darvall to address the
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
Defence College in 1955, where he saw former enemies from several nations working together towards a common goal, and realised how much more could be done to overcome the hostility of the Cold War if young people from different nations could be brought together in a similar way. He envisaged a college for students who were already grounded in their own cultures but impressionable enough to learn from others. Drawn from all nations, the students would be selected purely on merit and potential, regardless of race, religion, nationality and background. On 19 September 1962, Atlantic College opened with nine teaching staff and 56 male students aged between 16 to 19 years from 12 counties; in 1967, the school became co-educational, with a cohort hailing from 35 nations. Atlantic College was hailed by ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ...
'' as "the most exciting experiment in education since the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
." The College was the result of Kurt Hahn's vision and the work of individuals such as the founding Headmaster Rear Admiral Desmond Hoare, Director of Studies Robert Backburn, Air Marshal Sir Lawrance Darvall, and Antonin Besse, who donated St Donat's Castle for the college's premises. In 1967, Lord Mountbatten of Burma became President of the organisation and the title United World Colleges came into existence. Mountbatten was an enthusiastic UWC supporter and encouraged heads of state, politicians and personalities throughout the world to share his interest. He was personally involved in founding what became the third UWC – the United World College of South East Asia – in Singapore in 1975, following the founding of the second College, the Lester B Pearson United World College of the Pacific in Canada in 1974, named after Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson. In 1978, Mountbatten passed the Presidency to his great-nephew, the then Prince of Wales,
Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...
. Presidents of Atlantic College include Queen Noor of
Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Ri ...
, Queen
Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
of the United Kingdom (until her death in 2022), and until his death in 2013,
Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the ...
of
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...
.


College

The college's stated mission is to "make education a force to unite people, nations, and cultures for peace and a sustainable future". Students from over 90 countries participate in Atlantic College's two-year programme, in which they combine academic studies with activities and service. Admission into United World Colleges, and scholarship awards, are decided by national UWC committees around the world and the Global Selection Programme.


Academics

Atlantic College was one of the first colleges in the world, and first in UK, to follow an international curriculum, and offers the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. The College was one of the key institutions involved in the creation of the International Baccalaureate, and continues to be actively involved in its development. In May 1967, 108 students at Atlantic College joined 37 at the
International School of Geneva The International School of Geneva (in French: ''Ecole Internationale de Genève''), also known as "Ecolint" or "The International School", is a private, non-profit international school based in Geneva, Switzerland. Founded in 1924 in the servi ...
to sit the first trial exams for the IB. Having already participated in these pilot exams in parallel to offering the British GCE A-Levels, in 1971 Atlantic College became the first school in the world to entirely abandon a national curriculum and qualification in favor of the new program. The college also offered a Pre-Diploma course, offering 15-16-year-old students the chance to study IGCSEs among the rest of the college's older population. This programme ended in 2019. IB graduates are typically accepted at the most competitive colleges and universities around the world, with many enrolling in
Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schoo ...
universities in the United States as well as British universities. Students at the college are eligible, after graduation, to participate in the Davis United World College Scholars Program, which funds undergraduate study for UWC students at selected universities in the United States.


Service

Service has been a core part of the college's ethos and structure since its founding, rooted in Kurt Hahn's philosophy and belief that physical activity and especially service to others were vital elements of a well rounded education. At the beginning of each year at the college, students are obliged to select 3 activities that they will each carry out for at least 2 hours a week as part of the
International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB ...
's CAS requirement. The opportunity to undertake weekly community service, physical activity, and creative activity offers students a 'counterbalance' to the Diploma Programme's academic pressures, and allows the students an opportunity to reflect on their experiences and develop specific interests and passions. Additionally, Atlantic College runs a Project Week every year giving students a change to delve into either service based or expedition based experiences, and hosts student-ran Conferences on a quarterly basis offering deep introspection to students into the chosen conference topic.


Boat-building

The College has a strong tradition of boat design and boat building. The Atlantic College Lifeboat Station stood within its grounds as an active RNLI lifeboat station from 1963, when it opened as one of the first experimental inshore lifeboat (ILB) stations established in the United Kingdom, and staffed mostly by students, until 2013. Much of the development of the Atlantic 21, 75 and 85 classes of lifeboat took place at Atlantic college. What was to become the world's most widely used type of craft for inshore rescue, the rigid inflatable boat (RIB), was originally conceived, designed, prototyped, tested, and built at the college under its founding headmaster, retired Rear-Admiral Desmond Hoare. The B Class Atlantic Inshore Lifeboat was named by the RNLI after its birthplace. It has often been claimed that, had the College earned royalties on every rigid-hulled inflatable boat now in service, its scholarship fund would have never looked back; instead, Desmond Hoare, who eventually patented the design in 1973, sold the rights to the RNLI for the nominal fee of one pound; he did not cash the cheque, which is still displayed at the college. David Sutcliffe, a member of the founding staff of the Atlantic College in 1962 and its second headmaster, published ''The RIB The Rigid-Hulled Inflatable Lifeboat and its Place of Birth The Atlantic College'' in 2010, a book that tells the story of the inception of the RIB (rigid inflatable boat). The building of ILB training vessels at the school is a longstanding student activity, and were used for practice and training of the student-led RNLI crews at the station until its closure in 2013. In 2014 students at the college helped design a new boat in conjunction with companies in Japan, to help in the aftermath of a
tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater exp ...
.


Grounds and facilities

Atlantic College is located at St Donat's Castle, a 12th-century
castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
near the town of Llantwit Major on the South
Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
coast, overlooking the
Bristol Channel The Bristol Channel ( cy, Môr Hafren, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River S ...
. The castle has been continuously inhabited since it was first built. The extensive grounds also include the 12th-century St Donat's Church and the historic terraced gardens, as well as preserved woodland, farmland and Heritage Coastline. St Donat's Castle is the main building of the College, housing the Tudor great hall, the
gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
dining hall, Bradenstoke Hall (today used for assemblies and performances), an extensive 25,000-book library, staff offices, student common areas and certain academic departments. Before being purchased for use by the college by Antonin Besse, it was owned by
William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...
, who undertook major renovations, including transporting the roof and fireplace from the Bradenstoke Priory in Wiltshire and an ornate, gilded and vaulted ceiling from a church in Boston, Lincolnshire. Lessons take place in modern academic blocks built in the 1960s–80s, converted Medieval estate buildings, and the castle itself. Next to the castle are the Social and Gymnasium blocks, and the 12th-century
tithe barn A tithe barn was a type of barn used in much of northern Europe in the Middle Ages for storing rents and tithes. Farmers were required to give one-tenth of their produce to the established church. Tithe barns were usually associated with the ...
(with a contemporary extension), which is both used by the college and open to the public as a theatre, arts centre and cinema. The college owns sports fields, tennis courts, and in addition to indoor and outdoor swimming pools have a range of surf and rescue equipment, kayaks, sailing boats, RNLI training boats, and a cliff suitable for climbing and rescue practice. In 2004, the college installed a carbon neutral biomass heating system to replace an ageing and unsustainable oil-based system. It runs on locally sourced sustainable woodchip
biomass Biomass is plant-based material used as a fuel for heat or electricity production. It can be in the form of wood, wood residues, energy crops, agricultural residues, and waste from industry, farms, and households. Some people use the terms biom ...
, and makes the campus the largest site in the UK to be heated in such a way. Students live in eight modern accommodation houses built in the castle grounds named after either ancient Welsh kingdoms or benefactors to the college: Kurt Hahn, Antonin Besse, Powys, Whitaker, Gwynedd, Madiba, Tice and Sunley. The Pentti Kouri house, formerly Dyfed, was refurbished in the autumn of 2008 to include technologies such as geothermal heating and an energy usage monitoring system to lessen its impact on the environment. Due largely to the college's setting at the castle, in combination with its reputation as a progressive institution, media sometimes use terms such as ''"
Hogwarts Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry () is a fictional Scottish boarding school of magic for students aged eleven to eighteen, and is the primary setting for the first six books in J. K. Rowling's ''Harry Potter'' series and serves as a maj ...
for hippies"'' to describe the school. The college has hosted several royal visitors to the castle, including
Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
and Prince Philip, Lord Mountbatten, Prince Charles and Princess Diana, as well as Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko of Japan and Queen Beatrix and Prince Claus of the Netherlands, whose son, Willem-Alexander was a student at the College at the time. The fiftieth anniversary of the college in 2012 was marked by a visit by
Queen Noor of Jordan Noor Al-Hussein ( ar, نور الحسين; born Lisa Najeeb Halaby; August 23, 1951) is an American-born Jordanian philanthropist and activist who is the fourth wife and widow of King Hussein of Jordan. She was Queen of Jordan from their marri ...
, in her role as President of the United World Colleges. Senior politicians such as former Prime Minister of Canada Lester B. Pearson and former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Alec Douglas-Home also visited St Donat’s, as have several Ambassadors.


Notable alumni and students

*Sir Howard Newby (1947–), former Vice-Chancellor of the Universities of
Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...
, West England, and
Southampton Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...
*
David Ceperley David Matthew Ceperley (born 1949) is a theoretical physicist in the physics department at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign or UIUC. He is a world expert in the area of Quantum Monte Carlo computations, a method of calculation that is ...
(1949–), theoretical physicist * Eyal Ofer (1950–), Israeli billionaire and philanthropist * Wang Guangya (1950–), Chinese diplomat * Jorma Ollila (1950–), Finnish executive, former CEO of
Nokia Corporation Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporatio ...
* Seppo Honkapohja (1951–), Finnish economist, board member of the
Bank of Finland The Bank of Finland ( fi, Suomen Pankki, sv, Finlands Bank) is the central bank of Finland. It views itself as the fourth oldest surviving central bank in the world, after Sweden's Riksbank, the Bank of England, and the Bank of France. History ...
and former Professor of Macroeconomics at the
University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
* Edoardo Agnelli (1954–2000), only son of Giovanni Agnelli (Italian industrialist and head of
Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...
) * Kari Blackburn (1954–2007), BBC reporter *
Aernout van Lynden Carel Diederic Aernout baron van Lynden (born 31 December 1954) is a Dutch-British journalist with over twenty years experience as a war correspondent in the Middle East, Northern Ireland and the Balkans. Career Lynden began his journalism car ...
(1955–), journalist * Hakeem Belo-Osagie (1955–), Nigerian businessman, Chairman of the United Bank for Africa *
David Voas David Voas (born 1955) is a quantitative social scientist. He is currently Professor of Social Science and Head of the Department of Social Science at the UCL Institute of Education. He was previously Professor of Population Studies at the Univer ...
(1955–), sociologist, Head of the Department of Social Science at the UCL Institute of Education * Ghaleb Cachalia (1956–), South African politician * Fernando Alonso (1956–), Spanish engineer, Head of the Military Aircraft division of Airbus Defence and Space *
Charles Kuta Charles Stanley "Herb" Kuta (born 1956) is an American electronics engineer and software engineer who was a co-founder of Silicon Graphics, a major graphics workstation manufacturer. Charles Kuta was brought up in Pennsylvania, United States. ...
(1956–), American computer engineer, co-founder of Silicon Graphics * Uberto Pasolini (1957–), Italian film producer * Jonathan Michie (1957–), economist, President of
Kellogg College Kellogg College is a graduate-only constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1990 as Rewley House, Kellogg is the university's 36th college and the largest by number of students. It hosts research centres includi ...
,
University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...
* Tim Owen (1958–), barrister *
Olivia Bloomfield, Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist Olivia Caroline Bloomfield, Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (born 30 June 1960) is a British life peer and member of the House of Lords. Education She was educated at United World College of the Atlantic and read Philosophy, Politics an ...
(1960–), life peer and member of the
House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster ...
* Nick Brown (1962–), academic, Principal of Linacre College,
University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...
* David Cunliffe (1963–), New Zealand politician, former Minister for Health and Minister for Immigration * Julie Payette (1963–), Canadian engineer, scientist and astronaut, former
Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm, ...
* Helen Pankhurst (1964–), women's rights activist and scholar * João Pedro Cravinho (1964–): Portuguese diplomat and politician,
Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between coun ...
* King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands (1967–) * Eluned Morgan, Baroness Morgan of Ely (1967–), life peer and member of the
House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster ...
* Luke Harding (1968–), political journalist at
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...
* Michiel van Hulten (1969–), former Dutch politician *
Elsie Effah Kaufmann Elsie Akosua Biraa Effah Kaufmann (born 7 September 1969) is a Ghanaian academic, academic administrator, biomedical engineer, and current host of the National Science and Maths Quiz. In December 2020, Elsie Kaufmann was appointed an associa ...
(1969–), Ghanaian academic and biomedical engineer * Saba Douglas-Hamilton (1970–), Kenyan conservationist and TV presenter * Jakob von Weizsäcker (1970–), German politician and economist * Louise Leakey (1972–), Kenyan palaeontologist and anthropologist * Wangechi Mutu (1972–), Kenyan-American artist and sculptor * Horatio Clare (1973–), author *
Andreas Loewe Jost Andreas Loewe (born 27 February 1973) is a German-born priest in the Anglican Church of Australia. He has served as the 15th Dean of Melbourne since 2012, the second-youngest dean in the history of the diocese. An academic theologian and ...
(1973–), German-Australian historian and academic, Dean of Melbourne * Maciej Golubiewski (1976–), Polish political scientist and diplomat, former Consul General of Poland in New York City * Sally El Hosaini (1976–), Welsh-Egyptian film director and writer *
E. Tendayi Achiume E. Tendayi Achiume is the Alicia Miñana Professor of Law and former Faculty Director of the Promise Institute for Human Rights at the University of California, Los Angeles. She served as the United Nations special rapporteur on Racism, Racial D ...
(1982–), professor of law * Princess Raiyah bint Hussein of Jordan (1986–), daughter of
King Hussein Hussein bin Talal ( ar, الحسين بن طلال, ''Al-Ḥusayn ibn Ṭalāl''; 14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) was King of Jordan from 11 August 1952 until his death in 1999. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family o ...
and Queen Noor * Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant (2001–),
heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...
to the Belgian throne *
Leonor, Princess of Asturias (Leonor de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Ortiz; born 31 October 2005) is the heir presumptive to the throne of Spain as the elder daughter of King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia. In addition to the official title of Princess of Asturias, she bears th ...
(2005–),
heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir apparent or a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question. ...
to the Spanish throne * Princess Alexia of the Netherlands (2005–), daughter of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima


Principals

* Naheed Bardai, July 2021 * Peter Howe, 2017 – 2021 * Gerry Holden (Caretaker), Jan 2016 – Mar 2017 * John Walmsley, Jan 2012 – Dec 2015 * Paul Motte (acting), Dec 2010 – Jan 2012 * Neil Richards MBE, 2007 – Dec 2010 * Malcolm McKenzie, 2000–2007 * Colin Jenkins, 1990–2000 * Andrew Stuart, 1982–1990 * David Sutcliffe, 1969–1982 * Desmond Hoare, 1962–1969


References


External links


Atlantic CollegeUnited World CollegesAC (for and by students and teachers)United Words (UWC Student Magazine founded and led by Atlantic College Students)
{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1962 1962 establishments in Wales International Baccalaureate schools in Wales Independent schools in the Vale of Glamorgan Universities and colleges in Wales International schools International educational organizations