What Victorian philanthropists can teach today’s FE policymakers

Auspicium Melioris Aevi – “Herald of a new age.”

These words beneath the crest of the Working Men’s College, founded in 1854 by a group of Christian Socialists, encapsulate a radical vision: education not as charity, but as a right. It was a means for working people to participate fully in civic and cultural life. 

The Reverend Frederick Maurice, one of the College’s key founders, believed education should form citizens, not just employees. By calling it a “college”, he implied a society where teachers and learners were equal members. This marked a stark departure from the earlier adult educational efforts of the mechanics’ institutes. Liberal studies, humility in teaching and a rich social life became integral to the college. 

Maurice was joined by an extraordinary group of philanthropists – Thomas Hughes (author of Tom Brown’s Schooldays), John Ludlow, the philologist Frederick James Furnivall. It was also supported by figures such as the writer John Ruskin and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, who shaped WM’s early art teaching. [1] [2] 

The college shared its ethos with Birkbeck College, as both prioritised skill acquisition within a broader vision: developing individuals as citizens and community members, not just workers. No single institution can offer every opportunity, but their benefactors instilled a lasting commitment to a wider educational community – a principle that remains relevant today. 

Colleges are communities where people learn from and with each other, not only from teachers or texts. In a world overflowing with information, learning to evaluate and synthesise knowledge collaboratively is essential, whether navigating data systems or developing cultural literacy. Yet current structures and funding rarely encourage this mutual learning. 

Today, we see a revival of analogous impulses among Gen Z: crafts, supper clubs, and collective creativity are being embraced not just as hobbies but as medicine for loneliness, digital fatigue and a loss of connection. These mirror the same drive behind the founders of WM College, who believed that learning should restore community, moral purpose and human flourishing. 

Mathematics and languages were valued not merely as practical skills, but as gateways to higher knowledge – aimed at producing students, not just mathematicians or linguists.

Similarly, the arts were treated seriously. Pre-Raphaelites like Rossetti, Edward Burne-Jones, Ford Madox Brown and William Morris taught evening classes, bringing art to the working classes. Students often discovered renewed purpose, employment opportunities or new skills – echoing today’s need for education that enriches life as well as work. 

As early as 1965, WM College formally admitted female students – pioneering inclusion. These steps reflected not just demographic inclusion but a philosophical one: that men and women are equal in ability and citizenship. 

From the start, WM College fostered a sense of community and inclusion. Students learned from tutors and one another, developing mutual support and intellectual curiosity.  
 
Today, the adult education landscape is vastly different. Responsibility for skills shifts between departments, funding is fragmented, and providers face pressure to focus narrowly on employability outcomes. 
 
Skills policy is wrongly low-down in party priorities, with much talk of trade colleges but little sustained support for adult learning beyond vocational outcomes. Yet the lesson from Maurice and his contemporaries is clear: one need not wait for perfect policy conditions to act. They built a college where formal adult education barely existed, because it was the right thing to do. 

What might today’s policymakers, funders and philanthropists learn from these 19th-century pioneers? 

• Education shapes society as much as it serves the labour market. WM College’s founders saw it as a tool for civic renewal, building character, social cohesion and moral responsibility. 
• Long-term commitment matters. The college’s early supporters invested decades of sustained effort, not just funds or enthusiasm. Modern philanthropists should take note. 
• Community is central. At WM College spaces are created where people of all backgrounds can meet, learn and grow together. In an era of social fragmentation, this model feels urgently relevant. 
   

Today, as young people rediscover the therapeutic, communal, and creative value of making things with their hands, there is fertile ground for adult education that nurtures wellbeing, human worth and shared life. 
The challenge is to act with the courage and imagination of those Victorian philanthropists, who built not just a college but a movement rooted in civic purpose and inclusion.