Muirden Senior College

Our story

Muirden College was founded by William Muirden, who believed a school should teach vocational skills alongside general subjects. It opened on 9 July 1900 in two rooms at Ware Chambers in Grote Street with twelve day students and one evening student, offering shorthand, typing and business studies as well as preparation for public service, university and teaching examinations. It grew quickly, reaching 250 students by 1906 and taking in Remington College in 1912, and moved several times in the city before settling at 368 King William Street in 1929, where it still is.

Muirden was an early leader in educating women and men equally for work. It became a non-profit organisation in the 1970s, and by the 1990s it had become a small senior college focused on Years 11 and 12 and pre-university study. Today Muirden Senior College is an independent, co-educational Year 11 and 12 college in the city, known for small classes in its historic building.