About Us
The Marlborough College School of English and Culture combines a unique educational programme with a full timetable of unusual and engaging activities that have both been designed in order to help students grow in confidence, develop key life skills and explore their capabilities within a supportive and stimulating environment.
The Marlborough College School of English and Culture's academic syllabus has been designed by highly qualified professionals who know Marlborough well. The tutors are all specialists in English language tuition or their Open Minds field of expertise and are passionate about teaching and giving their students a culturally enriching experience. Further, they have a passion for expanding their students' horizons and challenging them to think in new and creative ways both inside and outside the classroom. The courses are unique to the Marlborough College School of English and Culture and are adapted and updated by our tutors each year to ensure that they continue to be relevant and engaging for our students.
After taking part in Learn English or Open Minds tuition in the morning, students will then join other teenagers from the wider Summer School community to take part in their chosen afternoon activity. There is a large selection of activities on offer that range from Drama and Performance Skills to Fashion Marketing, from Martial Arts to Photography, from Rock School to Basketball. These options also include courses designed and run by our highly experienced team of Creative Experts. These courses may see students immersing themselves in the creation of large-scale land art, putting on their clowning shoes or discovering their unique musical voice.
Our Creative Experts also play a fundamental role in the development and delivery of our evening and weekend programme. This has been designed to complement the ideas and themes that students encounter in other areas of the course, providing them with unique and varied experiences that encourage collaborative problem-solving, creative and critical thinking and self-expression. This may involve students showcasing their sporting skills, solving a dramatic murder mystery or rebuilding society as we know it through an immersive role-playing game. We also venture further afield; our month-long programme includes a trip to London and a weekend of adventuring on the beautiful Pembrokeshire coast.
The History of Marlborough College
In 1843, a group of Church of England clergymen, with the backing of the Archbishop of Canterbury, were looking to found a boarding school with the prime purpose of educating the sons of clergy. Hearing that the Castle Inn at Marlborough was vacant, they took a lease on it and so Marlborough College started in August 1843 with the admission of its first 199 boys.
When the notion of a Summer School at Marlborough College was first discussed in the early 1970s there was understandably some difference of opinion. There were those who viewed with alarm the prospect of College property being used by outsiders and those who felt strongly that such impressive facilities ought not to remain idle for all the weeks of the school holidays.
