Her Majesty The Queen convened the Privy Council at Windsor Castle on 16 December 2020 and approved the petition to award a new Supplemental Charter to the Presbyterian Theological Faculty, Ireland. This is an important and significant development for Union Theological College. It confirms and updates its ability to offer a range of postgraduate awards in Theology and to award postgraduate degrees at Masters and Doctoral levels.
The original Royal Charter was awarded by Queen Victoria in 1881 and allowed The Presbyterian College in Belfast to award degrees in Theology. There have been many changes and developments in the UK and Ireland since that original charter was granted, and the Supplemental Charter updates and modernises many of its provisions. This enables Union Theological College to continue its work with a renewed focus as it delivers a range of new qualifications.
In recent years, Union College has been able to offer a number of new degree programmes to both residential and online students. The online programmes draw students from across the world. A new Master of Divinity degree programme is available at the college in Belfast and two new Master of Theology programmes, as well as a doctoral programme, are proving attractive to students from diverse backgrounds and many locations.