About us ©

Mat Wright, British Council Photos

The British Council is the UK’s international culture and education organisation. We support peace and prosperity by building connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide. ​

Creating these vital connections between the people of all four nations of the UK and other countries benefits everyone. It encourages people and organisations from around the world to visit, study and partner with the UK, strengthening the UK’s global reputation and influence and driving economic growth.

By connecting the UK’s expertise in arts and culture, education and the English language to our global presence and unparalleled networks, we unlock potential and transform lives. We help artists to share their distinctive voices. We provide educators with the tools to shape generations. We give young people the confidence to shine.

We work with governments and our partners in the education, English language and cultural sectors to make a bigger difference, creating benefit for millions of people all over the world. At the heart of these relationships is trust which is built over time and nurtured through shared experiences. ​

We work with people in over 150 countries and reach over 700 million people. 

Founded in 1934, we are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter and a UK public body, operating at arm’s length from government. ​

Most of our income comes from partnership agreements, contracts, teaching and exams, and philanthropy. We also receive grant-in-aid funding from the UK government.

For almost a century, it’s been our mission to build a world where people connect across borders, and where trust is the foundation for lasting change. A world where opportunities are limitless.

We have been in Serbia since 1940. Every year, we connect with thousands of students, educators, policymakers, academics, researchers, creatives and entrepreneurs in Serbia.

Belgrade was one of the first eight cities in which the British Council opened its offices overseas.

Our first office in old Yugoslavia was opened in 1940. It was known as the Yugoslav-British Institute and occupied the first two floors of the Anglo-American-Yugoslav club. The Club itself was located in the heart of the town, in the building that is today known as Albanija. At that time we had two main activities: running English language courses and an English kindergarten.

During the Second World War the work was disrupted, but was resumed as early as June 1945. The first British Council Library was set up as part of the operation in 1946. Development of cultural and technical cooperation was also very rapid with first exchanges and visits taking place in 1947.

Having moved premises several times and having had our office and library separate for almost 40 years, we settled into our current building on Terazije Street in January 2001. We are now only 100 metres away from the place we first began work as the Yugoslav-British Institute.

In 2008, the British Council redefined its role across Europe in order to ensure that we continue to contribute to stronger cultural relations within and beyond Europe in a rapidly changing environment.

This change directly affected our library services. Since the uniqueness of the British Council library offer was gone, we transferred the resources to our new partner libraries in Novi Sad and Kragujevac. This transfer also meets the long-standing need of these important Serbian University cities, and will help us provide information services to a wider audience in Serbia.

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