The University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education (ICE) is a department of the University of Cambridge dedicated to providing continuing education programmes which allow students to obtain University of Cambridge qualifications at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Its award-bearing programmes range from undergraduate certificates through to part-time master's degrees. ICE is the oldest continuing education department in the United Kingdom.
The institute has an annual enrolment of over 6,000 students, including around 1,000 students from over 60 countries who attend the University of Cambridge's annual international summer programme. Students can choose from around 250 different courses across three broad disciplinary themes: Arts and Sciences; Creative Writing and English Literature; and Professional Studies.
The institute has its origins in a series of lectures given by James Stuart in 1867. It is primarily based at Madingley Hall in Cambridgeshire.
History
The Institute of Continuing Education (ICE) was founded as the Local Lectures Syndicate in 1873 by the University of Cambridge engineer James Stuart. It has also been previously known as the Board of Extra-Mural Studies (BEMS) and the Board for Continuing Education.
In 1867, the suffragist Anne Clough and the North of England Council for Promoting the Higher Education of Women commissioned James Stuart to deliver a course of lectures in five English cities in direct response to the growing need for educational opportunity for girls and women. These lecturers marked the beginning of the university extension movement, which aimed to provide tertiary teaching for those unable to go to university. Extension centres, guided by Cambridge academics, in cities such as Exeter and Sheffield were central to the formation of new university colleges and led to the expansion of universities in cities across England in the late 1800s.
The University of Cambridge sanctioned the university extension movement in 1873, when it offered its first course commencing in Derby on 8 October. In the same year, the university appointed the Local Lectures Syndicate, which included James Stuart, as well as Brooke Westcott, Joseph Lightfoot, and Henry Sidgwick. In 1924, the Local Lectures Syndicate became the autonomous Board of Extra-Mural Studies (BEMS) and it found a new permanent home a few years when it moved to the newly built Stuart House in Mill Lane, Cambridge in 1927. The board was based at Stuart House until 1975, when it moved to Madingley Hall in Cambridgeshire.In August 1991, the Board of Extra-Mural Studies (BEMS) was renamed as The Board for Continuing Education. The institute received its current name on 1 January 2001.
Directors
Location and buildings
The institute's headquarters are in the village of Madingley, Cambridgeshire. It is housed in Madingley Hall, about four miles west of the Cambridge city limits. Madingley Hall was built in the 1540s and was later rented by Queen Victoria for the young Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) while he was a student at Cambridge. The Hall incorporates 14 classrooms, 62 study bedrooms and full catering.
Academic overview
ICE offers residential, online, weekend, summer, and part-time courses, as well as public lectures. The duration of study varies, from one and two-day courses, through two-year part-time master's degrees, and courses are often taken for personal interest or for professional development. Students can study towards University of Cambridge qualifications, such as undergraduate sub-degrees and postgraduate qualifications, including a Master of Studies qualification which allows students to matriculate through a Cambridge college.
The institute employs a group of academic directors across its major discipline areas, a number of these academics are also university teaching officers and some hold college affiliations. The institute's teaching is also accomplished by a panel of about 300 tutors located in the Cambridge area and elsewhere.