St. Clare's

Infobox UK school
name = St. Clare's International School, Oxford


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established = 1953
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type = Independent boarding school
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head_label = Principal
head = Paula Holloway BSc (London) PGCE (Sussex) MSc (Oxon) DipPM (LSE)
r_head_label = Vice-Principal
r_head = Tom Walsh MA Higher DipEd (Dublin)
chair_label = Chair of Governors
chair = Nicholas Morris MA (Oxon), Barrister, formerly Company Director
founder = Anne Dreydel and Pamela Morris
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street = Banbury Road
city = Oxford
county = Oxfordshire
country = England
postcode = OX2 7AL
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enrollment = ~500
gender = Mixed
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free_label_1 = Alumni
free_1 = 40,000+ Former Students
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website = http://www.stclares.ac.uk/
website_name = www.stclares.ac.uk

St Clare's is an independent international boarding school in Oxford, England. It offers language courses, Liberal arts courses, teacher training courses and the entire International Baccalaureate program. There are over 40 nationalities represented amongst the student body in the IB programme. St Clare's is currently the fourteenth longest established school in the world to run IB, and the longest established IB school in England.

History

The school was founded in 1953 by Anne Dreydel OBE and Pamela Morris, founded on a scheme to establish links between British and European students after the Second World War. The original name was The Oxford English Centre for Foreign Students, which later became St. Clare's Hall, and then St. Clare's, Oxford. The College expanded rapidly to encompass a wide range of nationalities and programmes, both at university and pre-university level and in English Language.

In the mid-1950s, students came mostly from around a dozen Western European countries, as well as the UK. The College offered longer courses of study and shorter summer courses. In the 1960s, St. Clare's formed links with US universities, so that American university students could gain credit towards their US degrees. This gradually replaced the University of London external degrees.

In 2003, St. Clare's Oxford celebrated its 50th anniversary with events in San Diego, Rio de Janeiro and in Oxford.

International Baccalaureate

In 1977 the College introduced the International Baccalaureate Diploma for pre-university students, only the 41st school in the world to do so, and currently the fourteenth longest established school in the world. "A" levels were gradually phased out as the IB became established and St. Clare's is now the longest established IB school in England. Currently there are over 1500 IB schools in the world.

Campus

The St. Clare's campus consists of several converted Victorian buildings along Banbury Road and Bardwell Road in Oxford, England. These form two distinct sites - the Banbury Road Campus and the Bardwell Road Centre. The College also owns 19 residential houses with the capacity to house up to 25 students.

The College campus has grown with the increase in student numbers. From its original base in 141 Banbury Road, the College expanded to allow more teaching space and a wider range of subject choices, and early homestay arrangements were largely replaced with residential accommodation, as new houses in the area were acquired and refurbished. In 1999, the College bought the Oxford Academy site in Bardwell Road, which became the Senior Courses Bardwell Road Centre.