About Us

Continuing to grow

The University of Sydney, founded in 1850, is Australia’s first university, and has an international reputation for outstanding teaching, as a centre of research excellence and as an active and engaged community leader.

The Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Sydney College of the Arts, the University Museums and the Seymour Theatre Centre are just a few examples of how the University engages with the community through its rich cultural life.

The history of continuing education extends back before the establishment of the University of Sydney itself through its then Sydney College, more than 150 years ago. Now, more than 22,000 people participate each year in community education courses offered by the Centre for Continuing Education.

As a community leader, the University’s Centre for Continuing Education provides lifelong learning opportunities for people at all stages of life, who want to upgrade professional skills and qualifications, bridge a gap between previous study and university, undertake self-enrichment or engage in active retirement learning.

Keeping up to date is essential in our changing society. To keep pace with social change, we are reviewing all our courses to meet your lifelong learning needs and to strengthen the links between each course and the scholarly and creative knowledge resources of the relevant faculty. As part of our improved service The Centre for Continuing Education now comes under the University of Sydney’s SydneyLearning, an exciting move which will see us expand the range and scope of our programs. The table of contents includes the three main areas of continuing study: Humanities and Social Sciences, Science and Technology and Business and Management. We are also gradually improving and adding high-quality courses to provide professional, vocational and degree pathway options (see Sydney Gateway to University programs), and in so doing, extending our mission of lifelong learning, equity and diversity. What this means is that you now have a greater choice to engage in learning that is meaningful to your own work and life.

One of our improvement initiatives is to expand our Continuing Professional Development (CPD) program. CPD is such an important plank in lifelong learning, forging strong ties with business and industry, that we will now offer a seasonal electronic brochure, which will connect you directly to our website and to the latest developments in our CPD program. Request your free paper copy here.

How people learn is also changing, whether it is at work, university, school or in everyday life. Our new Complementary Studies category is designed to reflect current developments in education, learning and literacy. These courses are aimed at developing your learning capability and confidence. You can choose from a range of courses in critical thinking, study skills, interpersonal skills and personal development.

We will also launch the SydneyLearning Alumni Community during 2008. We look forward to welcoming loyal students of the Centre for Continuing Education to this community and to hearing about your progress and achievements. Staying in touch with you is central to the continued strength and development of continuing education at SydneyLearning.

Overall our courses are designed to engage you in an enjoyable and beneficial learning experience. Together with our capable team, it is a great privilege to be leading the task of embedding learning in the community, and we all look forward to meeting many of you throughout 2008.

Professor Ann Brewer
Deputy Vice-Chancellor and CEO, College Project
The University of Sydney