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UWC Atlantic (formally the United World College of the Atlantic, and often referred to by its original name, Atlantic College) is an independent boarding school in the Vale of Glamorgan in south Wales. Founded in 1962, it was the first of the United World Colleges and was among the first educational institutions in the world to follow an international curriculum. It helped create the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme in the 1960s.
It is attended by approximately 350 students from more than 90 countries, with the students being refugees, war victims, and members of persecuted communities, who live and study alongside members of royal families and political dynasties from across the globe. The New York Times, "The Castle Where Future Queens Drop the Royal Act", 22 May 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
The majority of its students are selected internationally through their National Committees which facilitate nationwide selection processes across the world in over 120 countries, and help fund student education through partial or full scholarships. Over 65% of students who apply through these national committees receive some form of scholarship or financial aid awards.
In addition to the IBDP, UWC Atlantic places student participation in community service at its core. It is known for its liberal education, its global ethos, and its strong focus on local and global development and sustainability.
On 19 September 1962, Atlantic College opened with nine teaching staff and 56 male students aged between 16 and 19 years from 12 countries; in 1967, the school became co-educational, with a cohort hailing from 35 nations. The school was hailed by The Times as "the most exciting experiment in education since the Second World War."
From its founding, the school was intended to be the first of a series, initially to be named "The Atlantic Colleges." In 1967, Lord Mountbatten of Burma became President of the organisation and the term United World Colleges came into existence, with an international office in London, and the school became known as the United World College of the Atlantic. Mountbatten was an enthusiastic UWC supporter and encouraged heads of state, politicians and personalities throughout the world to share his interest. He was personally involved in founding what became the third UWC – the United World College of South East Asia – in Singapore in 1975, following the founding of the second College, the Lester B Pearson United World College of the Pacific in Canada in 1974.
In 1978, Mountbatten passed the Presidency to his great-nephew, the then Prince of Wales, Charles III. Former presidents of the United World Colleges also include Nelson Mandela of South Africa (from 1995 until his death in 2013), a position he shared with the current holder of the position, Queen Noor of Jordan. Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom was a Patron of the college, from its early days until her death in 2022.
The college also offered a Pre-Diploma course, offering 15-16-year-old students the chance to study IGCSEs among the rest of the college's older population. This programme ended in 2019.
IB graduates are typically accepted at the most competitive colleges and universities around the world, with many enrolling in Ivy League universities in the United States as well as British universities. Students at the college are eligible, after graduation, to participate in the Davis United World College Scholars Program, which funds undergraduate study for UWC students at selected universities in the United States.
Additionally, UWC Atlantic runs a "Project Week" every year, giving students a chance to delve into either service based or expedition based experiences, and hosts student-ran Conferences on a quarterly basis offering deep introspection to students into the chosen conference topic.
Much of the development of the Atlantic 21, 75 and 85 classes of lifeboat took place at Atlantic College. RNLI through time , RNLI, UK. What was to become the world's most widely used type of craft for inshore rescue, the rigid inflatable boat (RIB), was originally conceived, designed, prototyped, tested, and built at the college under its founding headmaster, retired Rear-Admiral Desmond Hoare. The B Class Atlantic Inshore Lifeboat was named by the RNLI after its birthplace. It has often been claimed that, had the college earned royalties on every rigid-hulled inflatable boat now in service, its scholarship fund would have never looked back; instead, Desmond Hoare, who eventually patented the design in 1973, sold the rights to the RNLI for the nominal fee of one pound; he did not cash the cheque, which is still displayed at the college. David Sutcliffe, a member of the founding staff of Atlantic College in 1962 and its second headmaster, published The RIB The Rigid-Hulled Inflatable Lifeboat and its Place of Birth The Atlantic College in 2010, a book that tells the story of the inception of the RIB (rigid inflatable boat).
The building of ILB training vessels at the school is a longstanding student activity, and were used for practice and training of the student-led RNLI crews at the station until its closure in 2013. In 2014 students at the college helped design a new boat in conjunction with companies in Japan, to help in the aftermath of a tsunami. The college, through Atlantic Pacific International Rescue, still provides support and training for rescue efforts for migrants making hazardous sea crossings.
Students also participate in a range of activities that take advantage of the college's seafront location, including cliff abseiling, rock climbing, hiking, and sea kayaking.
Lessons take place in modern academic blocks built in the 1960s–80s, converted medieval estate buildings, and the castle itself. Next to the castle are the social and gymnasium blocks, and the 12th-century tithe barn (with a contemporary extension), which is both used by the college and open to the public as a theatre, arts centre and cinema. The college owns sports fields, tennis courts, and in addition to indoor and outdoor swimming pools have a range of surf and rescue equipment, kayaks, sailing boats, RNLI training boats, and a cliff suitable for climbing and rescue practice.
In 2004, the college installed a carbon neutral biomass heating system to replace an aging and unsustainable oil-based system. It runs on locally sourced sustainable woodchip biomass, and makes the campus the largest site in the UK to be heated in such a way. Biomass Heating at Atlantic College; Carbon Trust case study . Students live in eight modern accommodation houses built in the castle grounds named after either ancient Welsh kingdoms, important individuals in the college's history, and benefactors: Powys, Whitaker, Gwynedd, Kurt Hahn, Antonin Besse, Pentti Kouri, Madiba, Tice, and Sunley. The Pentti Kouri house, formerly Dyfed, was refurbished in the autumn of 2008 to include sustainable technologies such as geothermal heating and an energy usage monitoring system. Eco-refurbishment to pioneer new heat pump technology, Building Design, UK, 14 August 2008.
Due largely to the college's setting at the castle, in combination with its reputation as a progressive institution, media sometimes use terms such as "Hogwarts for hippies" to describe the school.
The college has hosted several royal visitors to the castle, including Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Lord Mountbatten, King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales, as well as Akihito and Empress Michiko of Japan, Queen Beatrix and Prince Claus of the Netherlands, King Willem-Alexander (an alumnus) and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, and Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain. The fiftieth anniversary of the college in 2012 was marked by a visit by Queen Noor of Jordan, in her role as President of the United World Colleges. Senior politicians such as former Prime Minister of Canada Lester B. Pearson and former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Alec Douglas-Home also visited St Donat's, as have several ambassadors and diplomats.
Sports
The college offers a range of sports and fitness activities as part of the CAS component of the IB Diploma and as co-curricular activities. Facilities include indoor and outdoor swimming pools, tennis courts, a climbing wall, a sports hall with basketball and badminton courts, a five-a-side football pitch, dance studio, and gym equipment, and playing fields used for football and rugby. The college's football team participate in the South Wales Youth League, a regional youth league.
Grounds and facilities
UWC Atlantic is located at St Donat's Castle, a 12th-century castle near the town of Llantwit Major on the South Wales coast, overlooking the Bristol Channel. The castle has been continuously inhabited since it was first built. The extensive grounds also include the 12th-century St Donat's Church and the historic terraced gardens, as well as preserved woodland, farmland and . St Donat's Castle is the main building of the college, housing the Tudor great hall, the gothic dining hall, Bradenstoke Hall (today used for assemblies and performances), an extensive 25,000-book library, staff offices, student common areas and certain academic departments. Before being purchased for use by the college by Antonin Besse, it was owned by William Randolph Hearst, who undertook major renovations, including transporting the roof and fireplace from the Bradenstoke Priory in Wiltshire and an ornate, gilded and vaulted ceiling from a church in Boston, Lincolnshire.
Principals
Notable alumni
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