Ridley Hall, Cambridge

Ridley Hall is a theological college located in Sidgwick Avenue in Cambridge in the United Kingdom, which trains men and women intending to take Holy Orders, as deacon or priest of the Church of England and the ministry of other churches. It was founded in 1881 and named in memory of Nicholas Ridley, a leading Protestant theologian of the sixteenth century. The first principal was theologian Handley Moule, later Bishop of Durham.Although not part of the University of Cambridge, Ridley Hall maintains close ties with the university and many of its students are awarded qualifications by the university Faculty of Divinity, and until the introduction of the Common Award degrees were also awarded by Anglia Ruskin University to ordinands who did not meet Cambridge's minimum grades (a high 2:1 or above). Along with all other training institutions Ridley Hall is now offering a significant number of Common Award qualifications, accredited by Durham University (college's on Oxford or Cambridge are still able to also offer degrees from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge but institutions in other locations may onl offer the common award). Ridley Hall teaching tends towards an evangelical theology. It is one of four Church of England theological colleges (the others being St John's College, Nottingham, Trinity College, Bristol and Cranmer Hall in Durham) which self-identify as "Open Evangelical". The current principal of Ridley Hall is Michael Volland, succeeding Andrew Norman, who moved to become Direction of Ministry and Mission in the Diocese of Leeds.