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90th Anniversary
Golding, Damon (Digital , Partnerships a
Created on March 1, 2024
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Transcript
Explore our history
1970s
1960s
1950s
1940s
1930s
Explore our history
2020s
2010s
2000s
1990s
1980s
1950s
The Suez Crisis forces the temporary closure of our Egypt office, although English lessons and cultural exchange activities continue. Learn more about our work to support international students studying in the UK and understand how British Council libraries came to play a significant role in our history.
Dive in
Image © Roberto Serra - Iguana Press/Getty Images
Dive in
1990s
The fall of the Communist regimes of Eastern Europe leads to demand for English language teaching and broader training. Funded by the UK government’s Know How Fund, we provide training and English lessons across the region. Find out which artists we commissioned to showcase their work at the Venice Biennale during the 1990s.
Dive in
2020s
Our face-to-face activities come to an abrupt halt as the Covid-19 virus sweeps the world. We work quickly to deliver English lessons online and develop remote invigilation services to allow people to access life-changing exams. Fayza Haidar, a Premier Skills-trained coach, becomes the first woman to be appointed to coach an Egyptian men’s professional football team.
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1980s
As we celebrate our 50th anniversary with a set of commemorative stamps, we launch the Britain in Vienna festival, showcasing the work of UK artists, composers, designers as well as theatre and dance companies. Discover how arts and culture has helped us to rebuild connections in Argentina after the Falklands/Malvinas conflict forced us to temporarily close our office.
1960s
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At the height of the Cold War we take the National Youth Theatre to Berlin with a production of Romeo and Juliet. At the same time, we welcome students from across Eastern Europe to study in the UK on scholarships. Find out more about our very first partnership with the BBC – an English teaching television programme, Walter and Connie.
1930s
With the backdrop of the Great Depression, falls in living standards and persistent unemployment came a rise in extremist views. The creation of the British Council was one way the UK government reacted to the growing threat to British interests. Find out how our world-famous art collection came into being and learn about the first British Council scholars and our first international theatre tour.
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1970s
We focus on meeting demand for face-to-face English teaching by opening new teaching centres, particularly in Southern Europe and the Middle East. Learn how we launched a programme to bring creative work and international artists to the UK.
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2010s
We respond to revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya with new projects offering young people education, skills and opportunities to reshape their societies. Learn more about Shakespeare Lives, a year-long global celebration to mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death.
1940s
The Second World War leads to the closure of many of our international offices, but we support refugees and allied service personnel through our network of UK premises. Discover more about how these offices became centres of cultural exchange and English language learning and find out how our work in international education led to the formation of UNESCO
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Dive in
2000s
9/11 brings renewed attention to the importance of building understanding across countries and cultures. Our response was Connecting Futures, bringing together young people from the UK, the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe. Discover how our we developed free online English learning resources.