Leo Baeck College is an institution of Jewish scholarship and learning that is the heart of the intellectual and spiritual life of the Progressive Jewish community in the UK.   It is the place where rabbis and educators equipped for the 21^st century are trained, where leaders of Progressive Judaism are nurtured and where the core of Progressive Jewish thought is developed.

Following the destruction of much of Continental Jewry in the Holocaust, Leo Baeck College was set up in 1956 to begin the process of re-educating and recreating the leadership for the Progressive Jewish communities of the UK and those in Europe. Its origins are based on the model of the Berlin Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums, which was the first institute to apply modern academic methods of study to Jewish texts.  Shut down in 1942 by the Nazis, Leo Baeck College sees itself as an inheritor of that tradition. The College is supported by the Movement for Reform Judaism and Liberal Judaism in the UK, as well as independent patrons. The College is a member of the World Union of Progressive Judaism (WUPJ) and the European Union of Progressive Judaism (EUPJ).

From the onset Leo Baeck College developed its own programmes encompassing academic, vocational and professional studies. Its degrees were first validated by the CNAA and over the years the College’s reputation as a centre for Jewish studies has grown. Currently it offers four awards in the field of Jewish Studies, which are validated by Middlesex University.  These include:

Graduate Diploma in Hebrew and Jewish Studies, Part 1.  This is a FHEQ Level 6 award

Graduate Diploma in Hebrew and Jewish Studies, Part 2.  This is a FHEQ Level 6 award

Postgraduate Diploma in Hebrew and Jewish Studies. This is a FHEQ Level 7 award

MA in Applied Rabbinic Theology. This is a FHEQ Level 7 award

Students wishing to be ordained, study all four of the Jewish Studies awards in addition to vocational modules and undertake a series of placements in Progressive communities.

Studies at the College are challenging, but are carried out in an individual, friendly and supportive environment. The small number of students allows the College to make the learning experience a truly personal one.  The close connection to the community enables students to gain work experience in synagogues as part of their training and to forge contacts with future employers.

The College’s faculty is very varied being made up of academics, practising rabbis and educators.  This offers students the preparation they need in pursuing academic and/or leadership positions.

The College library contains 60 thousand volumes covering every aspect of Jewish life, thought and culture. Inspiring and informing four generations of rabbis, scholars and educators, it is one of the finest Jewish Studies collections in Europe, a treasure trove of Jewish books in the heart of North London.

In addition to our academic programmes and awards, the College also runs an adult Jewish learning programme called Lehrhaus, which follows in the footsteps of the Frankfurt Lehrhaus established in 1920 by Franz Rosenzweig. The programme offers adults the opportunity to study with our world-renowned faculty and specialist teachers on a range of subjects, including Bible, Jewish Philosophy, Talmud, Midrash, Jewish music, languages, Jewish Education and more. Please go to: https://lbc.ac.uk/study-with-us/additional-learning-opportunities/lehrhaus/