The British Council is the United Kingdom's international cultural relations organisation founded in 1934. We have offices in 229 towns and cities in 110 countries and territories worldwide. We have been in Hong Kong since 1948.
1948
The British Council opened its headquarters in Hong Kong with an aim to strengthen cultural relations between Chinese and British people.
1949
The first British Council library in Hong Kong started its operation in February in Statue Square. It contained sections on arts, music, history, literature, biography, philosophy and politics and was open to the public.
1976
The first British Council English Teaching Centre in Hong Kong was open in the Easey Commercial Building in Wan Chai.
1987
The British Council held its first Education UK exhibition in Hong Kong. Today, the twice yearly exhibitions are among the largest of their kind in Asia.
1992
The British Council’s Science Alive programme was organised for the first time in collaboration with the Education Bureau and sponsored by the Croucher Foundation. This annual science education programme invites leading UK science academics and communicators to present interactive lectures and workshops to students and teachers in Hong Kong, aiming to promote fun and easy ways to learn science.
1997
The British Council’s building was open at 3 Supreme Court Road in Admiralty. It housed state-of-the-art teaching and examination rooms plus multi-purpose facilities.
2005
The British Council became one of the first organisations in Hong Kong to offer a 10-day paternity leave and 20-day adoption leave policy for staff members.
2008
The British Council celebrated its 60th anniversary with a party which gathered over 250 VIP guests, including most of the Celebration 60 alumni and many of the local partners and friends.
2009
FameLab, an international Science communication competition co-organised by the British Council and the Cheltenham Festival, was launched as part of the Science Alive programme.
2011
The IELTS Scholarship was launched to support outstanding Hong Kong/ Macau students for overseas undergraduate/ postgraduate study.
2012
The British Council co-organised the London 2012 Olympic Posters Exhibition with Cyberport in celebration of the London Olympic and Paralympic Games.
2013
The British Council introduced the highly flexible adult English course ‘myClass’ which allows students selecting the class date, time, topic and even teacher according to their preference and schedule.
The first global computer-based Cambridge English, Starters examination, was also launched.
2015
The British Council set up its new English Language Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui, specially designed for adult students who follow the flexible myClass learning model.
2015 - 16
The British Council presented Event Horizon, the city’s most extensive public arts installation by the internationally acclaimed UK artist, Sir Antony Gormley. During its six months installation, Event Horizon enriched Hong Kong’s city landscape and paved the way for more public art in the city.
2016
The British Council launched its first International Pre-School in Hong Kong. The school adopts the UK-based International Primary Curriculum (IPC) and offers a holistic, bilingual education to children who are eligible to study in Hong Kong.