The importance of service

Helping others is a core part of Haileybury life and its ethos. Since the 1860s, Haileyburians have been typified by their moral compass and a dedication to service; what the current Master refers to as “giving something back to society”.

While today’s world is a much-changed place from that of 1862, often shaped by dramatic global forces unknown to our ancestors, Haileyburians continue to help shape the world and to make it a better place for all.

Shaping the world

Since its earliest days, Haileybury has prided itself on giving pupils a broad, open-ended education which encourages intellectual exploration and practical ambition. Pupils have gone on from here to progress in careers not just in Britain but around the world.

Some have reached the very peaks of their chosen careers. They have excelled on the stage, in music, in film, in sport and as writers. They have broken barriers in science and medicine. They served their country on land, at sea and in the air. One became Britain’s most influential Prime Minister of modern times, shaping the welfare state and making the country’s health system one of the envies of the world.

From its earliest days in the era of Empire, to its modern role in a fast-moving and ever-changing global economy, Haileybury and its pupils have helped shape the world we know today. Here you can learn more about the College, from its earliest days as the East India College, through the foundation of Haileybury in 1862 to its eventual merger with the Imperial Service College in 1942.

In 1855, an Act of Parliament was passed which relieved the East India Company of the obligation to maintain a College in Haileybury. The East India College had existed here since 1806 but, under the terms of the Act, it was to close by 1858, seemingly for good. However, in 1862, a new Haileybury College emerged as an independent public school on the same site; the rest, of course, is history.

Haileybury Malta opened in September 2023.