Stockwell College of Education

[1] The College was founded in 1860 on a site at Stockwell, South London, by the British & Foreign School Society, for the purpose of training teachers.

On the return to Bromley in 1945, some buildings had been destroyed by bombs, public air raid shelters had been built on the site, high blast walls had been constructed that obscured some windows, the grounds had been let out to allotments, and the fabric of the Old Palace itself had been badly damaged.

From 1960 most students were admitted to the three-year initial teacher training course, which led to the Certificate in Education of the University of London.

In 1969 the college began to admit postgraduate students to a one-year course leading to the University’s Graduate Certificate in Education.

The government imposed a policy of regression with a reduction of teacher training places; the college’s allocation was reduced from a target of 400 in 1972 to one of 95 in 1977.

Courses were developed and validated by the University of London, leading to ordinary and honours degrees, which progressively replaced the Certificate in Education and B.Ed.