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British Council

The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh language in Argentina[2]); encouraging cultural, scientific, technological and educational cooperation with the United Kingdom. The organisation has been called a soft power extension of UK foreign policy,[3][4] as well as a tool for propaganda.[5]

Founded

1934 (1934)

British government

Cultural institution

1 Redman Place, Stratford, London E20 1JQ, England, United Kingdom

Worldwide

British cultural and language education

Sarah Sands (acting Chair)
Scott McDonald (Chief Executive)

£924,965,472[1]

£1,015,114,434[1]

www.britishcouncil.org

The British Council is governed by a Royal Charter. It is also a public corporation and an executive non-departmental public body (NDPB), sponsored by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Its headquarters are in Stratford, London. Its acting chair is Sarah Sands[6] and its chief executive is Scott McDonald.[7]

1934: British Foreign Office officials created the "British Committee for Relations with Other Countries" to support English education abroad, promote British culture and fight the rise of fascism. The name quickly became the British Council for Relations with Other Countries.

[8]

1936: The organisation's name was officially shortened to the British Council.

[9]

1938: The British Council opened its first four offices in (Romania), Cairo (Egypt), Lisbon (Portugal) and Warsaw (Poland).[10][11][12][13] The offices in Portugal are currently the oldest in continuous operation in the world.[12]

Bucharest

1940: King George VI granted the British Council a Royal Charter for promoting "a wider knowledge of [the United Kingdom] and the English language abroad and developing closer cultural relations between [the UK] and other countries".

[8]

1942: The British Council undertook a promotion of British culture overseas. The music section of the project was a recording of significant recent compositions by British composers: E.J. Moeran's Symphony in G minor was the first work to be recorded under this initiative, followed by recordings of Walton's Belshazzar's Feast, Bliss' Piano Concerto,[15] Bax's Third Symphony, and Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius.[16][17]

[14]

Organisation[edit]

The British Council is a charity governed by Royal Charter. It is also a public corporation and an executive nondepartmental public body (NDPB), sponsored by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Its headquarters are in Stratford, London. Its acting chair is Sarah Sands,[6] and its CEO is Scott McDonald.


The British Council's total income in 2014–2015 was £973 million principally made up of £154.9 million grant-in-aid received from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office; £637 million income from fees and teaching and examinations services; and £164 million from contracts.[30]


The British Council works in more than 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the UK and the English language; encouraging cultural, scientific, technological and educational understanding and cooperation; changing people's lives through access to UK education, skills, qualifications, culture and society; and attracting people who matter to the future of the UK and engaging them with the UK's culture, educational opportunities and its diverse, modern, open society.[30]


In 2014–2015, the British Council spent: £489 million developing a wider knowledge of the English language; £238 million encouraging educational cooperation and promoting the advancement of education; £155 million building capacity for social change; £80 million encouraging cultural, scientific and technological cooperation; and £10 million on governance, tax and trading expenses.[30]

Notable activities[edit]

English and examinations[edit]

The British Council offers face-to-face teaching in more than 80 teaching centres in more than 50 countries.[30]


Three million candidates took UK examinations with the British Council in more than 850 towns and cities in 2014–2015.[30]

Other activities[edit]

Young Creative Entrepreneur Awards[edit]

The British Council's Young Creative Entrepreneurs Awards identify and support talented people from across the creative industries, such as the International Young Publisher of the Year, International Young Design Entrepreneur of the Year, International Young Music Entrepreneur of the Year and British Council West Africa Arts Programme ~ Creative Entrepreneurs 2018 awards.[43][44][45]

1934–37 [93]

Lord Tyrrell

1937–41

Lord Lloyd

1941–45

Sir Malcolm Robertson

1946–55

Sir Ronald Adam

1955–59

Sir David Kelly

1959–67

Lord Bridges

1968–71

Lord Fulton

1971–72

Sir Leslie Rowan

1972–76

Lord Ballantrae

1977–84 Sir

Charles Troughton

1985–92

Sir David Orr

1992–98

Sir Martin Jacomb

1998–2004 [94]

Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws

2004–09 [95]

Lord Kinnock

2010–16 Sir [96]

Vernon Ellis

2016–19 Christopher Rodrigues

[96]

2019–23 [6]

Stevie Spring

The Council has been chaired by:

Trade unions[edit]

Some staff at the British Council are members of unions.[97] UK staff are represented by the Public and Commercial Services Union. Some employees in Japan belong to the General Union.[98]

Language

English

1967–1989

Quarterly

Media Educ. Dev.

0262-0251

8210712

[103]

English UK

Annex[edit]

Locations[edit]

The British Council is organised into seven regions.

Eunic

(TEFL)

Teaching English as a Foreign Language

Cultural diplomacy

Public diplomacy

Edit this at Wikidata

Official website

directory

British Council Film

(1993).

Royal Charter of the British Council

held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick

Catalogue of the British Council Whitley Council Staff/Trade Union Side archives

provided by Google Arts & Culture

Virtual tour of the British Council

Media related to British Council at Wikimedia Commons