Westcott House

Who we are

Who We Are

Westcott House is a Church of England theological college in the heart of the university city of Cambridge. In the past decade we have grown from a community of 60 to almost 80 men and women, preparing for the challenges and opportunities of public ministry.

With a range of international partnerships with other seminaries and training institutions, we strive to be a diverse Anglican community, where we learn to engage constructively with differences. As a member of the Cambridge Theological Federation – an association of theological colleges and institutes based in Cambridge – we offer an ecumenical dimension to training, with our students studying with those from other Anglican traditions as well as students from the Roman Catholic, Methodist, Orthodox and United Reformed Churches. The Federation also has a multi-faith dimension, through the Woolf Institute, enabling our students to learn from those of other faiths, and a global Christian perspective through the Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide.

What We Do

Our vision is to train wise and faithful priests and lay leaders, committed to the renewal of the Church and the transformation of society. This is enabled by our distinctive pattern of residential and context-based training, which equips each student to serve in diverse and challenging contexts, and to respond to the spiritual and pastoral needs of those they serve at local, regional and national levels.

Most of our students spend two or three – some four – years in full-time training with us, and all undertake a rigorous academic programme of theological learning to enable them to think theologically, both to nurture the faith of fellow Christians, and to engage with the challenges of our contemporary world. Students normally undertake a degree course with the Faculty of Divinity of the University of Cambridge, or through the Common Awards validated by the University of Durham.

In addition to prayer, study and community life, it is the practical experience of ministry in a range of contexts that teaches our students to adapt and be flexible whatever the situation. All of our students are attached to local churches during their training, and spend a term on full-time placement in a parish, many based in our unique urban project in Manchester. Many also gain experience of the church overseas, for a few weeks, a term, or even a year in places as diverse as the USA, India, South Africa or Hong Kong.