It became a full college of the university in 1996, taking its current name to commemorate its predecessor the Manchester Academy and a benefaction by Lord Harris of Peckham.

[6] Originally run by English Presbyterians, it was one of several dissenting academies that provided religious nonconformists with higher education, as at the time the only universities in England – Oxford and Cambridge – were restricted to Anglicans.

The key person in York was Charles Wellbeloved, a Unitarian minister, after whom a function room in the college is named.

Wellbeloved did not allow the school to be called Unitarian because he wanted students to have an open mind and to discover the truth for themselves.

[citation needed] In 1840, when age forced him to retire, the college moved back to Manchester, where it stayed until 1853.

ISTD operations focussed on gathering of topographical intelligence for the day when the Allies would return to continental Europe.

[16] Departments were divided between Oxford and Cambridge, but it was the ISTD section in Manchester College which planned Operation Overlord, known as the D-Day landings.

The college's Arlosh Hall served as the main centre of operations, with Nissen huts and tents put up in the quads.

Among various other sources, the nearby School of Geography of the university supplied the ISTD with many maps and charts which proved an essential part in the success of the invasion.

[citation needed] Today the college only accepts students over the age of 21, both for undergraduate and graduate studies.

The college tries to continue its liberal and pioneering ethos, considering its mature student focus as a modern means of providing higher education to those that have been excluded from it in the past.

[25] Particularly noteworthy are the stained glass windows on the north wall of the chapel, which were installed in 1896 and depict the Six Days of Creation.

The library is well stocked in all the major subjects offered by the college including English Literature, Philosophy, Theology, Politics, Economics, Law, History and Medicine.

[citation needed] Despite the small student body, the college offers a wide array of courses.

[citation needed] Members are generally expected to dine in the Arlosh Hall, where there is a twice-weekly formal dinner on Mondays and Wednesdays at which students dress in jackets, ties, and gowns.

In recent years the college's ice hockey team has been successful, once winning second place in the intercollegiate cuppers tournament, with the Basketball team winning third place in its intercollegiate cuppers tournament the year before.