The college was founded in Oscott (present-day, Great Barr), in 1794, after the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791, for both the training of priests and the education of lay pupils.

The college quickly became a symbol of the rebirth of the Catholic faith in England and played a prominent part in the life of the Church in the 19th century.

After the closure of St Cuthbert's College, Ushaw, Durham, in 2011, many of the dioceses in the province of Liverpool sent their students to Oscott to complete their training.

[7] Pope Benedict XVI visited on 19 September, 2010, following the beatification, earlier that day in Birmingham's Cofton Park, of Cardinal Newman who stayed at the college, in the late 1840s.

In 2023, the college hosted a seminar called "Rethink Abortion Day," which was led by prominent US-based activist anti-abortion groups.