Chris Edwards

Former Head of College

Chris Edwards, Former Head of College, joined UWCSEA in 2014. Educated at Merchant Taylors’ School in Liverpool UK, he went on to study English Language and Literature at Oxford University in 1983 where he later gained a First Class Degree and became a Postmaster (nothing to do with envelopes) at one of Oxford’s oldest colleges, Merton.

Chris then set about travelling the world for two years, paying his way by playing piano, washing dishes and picking no end of fruit. He subsequently began a teaching career that in its first ten years saw him in Australia, South East Asia, Brazil (where he became enamoured of the IB) and the UK. In 1998 he was appointed Deputy and later Acting Head of Stowe School in the UK. 2004 saw Chris become Head of Bromsgrove, one of the UK’s largest independent schools which, during his tenure, established a Foundation, widened its access to young people from all social backgrounds and eventually comprised of a student body from forty three different nations. However, after the happiest of decades in such a forward looking environment, Chris found the lure of UWCSEA’s educational ethos and ambition simply too great. Indeed, philosophically, he believes he has come home.

Chris has an unwavering commitment to and passion for the values-based approach to education that is at the core of the UWC movement and UWCSEA. His career has been driven by a belief in the power of education to transform lives and a belief in the good of young people that mirrors that of our founder, Kurt Hahn.

A lover of music, literature and Everton football club, Chris is passionate about promoting global understanding among young people, and his own love of travel is undiminished. Chris now sits on a number of educational committees but still derives immense pleasure from making constructive mischief in the face of pomposity, parochialism and arrogance. Indeed, some of his articles have appeared under pseudonyms for fear of public uproar. He would have it no other way.