College Profile

Our long association with the provision of high quality education began over a hundred years ago when our Principal’s grandfather completed his education at Balliol College Oxford. John Russell MA initially taught at Clifton College, Bristol and then moved back to his home town where he became a Master at Nottingham High before founding Roclaveston Independent School.

A prominent figure in the academic circles of late nineteenth century Nottingham, John Russell was a leading member of the Association of Preparatory School Headmasters; the Secretary of the Oxford Examinations Board; a member of the Thoroton Society Council and Secretary of Bromley House Library for some twelve years before being elected President in 1914. Established as the Nottingham Subscription Library in 1816 the Library became known as the Bromley House Library after moving to the present address in Angel Row. The library is still flourishing after nearly two hundred years and is now the oldest subscription library in the World.

Today, at the beginning of the 21 st century, this prestigious academic record is being maintained by our Principal Dr Christine R Russell, a well known and highly respected horticulturist. Educated at Worthing High School, Wye College, the University of London, the Glasshouse Crops Research Institute, Littlehampton and the University of Southampton, Dr Russell now leads a dedicated team at the IHRS where extensive experience in all aspects of horticultural education, research and practice enables us to offer the very best in specialised distance learning courses available today.

Our aim has always been to set the benchmark standard for the teaching of horticulture and associated sciences and we are confident that the quality you will find evident in the services we provide, our course material and tutorial care, demonstrates our commitment to maintaining this position.

Whilst successful teaching aims to provide far more than examination results, ultimately, these count and we are more than happy to be judged on this basis: Please see our 'results' page for the latest figures.

All IHRS tutors hold full horticultural (at least MSc or MA) and teaching qualifications (at least PGCE) and have extensive practical experience. They maintain close links with professional, educational and research institutions in many parts of the world to ensure that they are always in touch with the very latest developments, technology and information appropriate to their fields. Such expertise allows the college to provide a wide selection of courses covering most fields associated with our core science subjects, from those appropriate to the keen amateur to those leading to highly specialised degree level professional qualifications.

In addition to enrolments from individuals - most by way of recommendations from past or present students - we also provide courses via the Employment Service, local authorities, academic, professional and commercial bodies who are kind enough to fund our courses for their employees and members. We are pleased that these sponsors include a number of Universities and Colleges, the Royal Horticultural Society, Horticultural Research International, the BBC, The National Trust, The Royal Mail, The Prison Service, The Fire Service, Proctor & Gamble and BP.