Founded as a Methodist missionary school in 1874, headed by Rev. Samuel Wilkin and Vice Principal Rev. Henry Pereira, Wesley College remains one of Sri Lanka’s leading schools and one of the oldest in Asia. Wesley offers students and teachers a broad range of educational opportunities, through academic studies, sports, and cultural activities.

From the very beginning the school has been conscious that student achievement in academic studies and success in extracurricular activities have determined the brand value of the school. Wesley’s strength and vigour lies in her focus on guiding her students in mapping out their professional futures to secure their dreams.

Wesley’s goal has been to “get it right’ with all stakeholders. The dedication of all stakeholders is to serve Wesley’s students well. This continues to drive the school today. In particular, Wesley has striven hard to simplify and optimize the learning curve of all students and professional development of teachers.  The goal is to meet their needs better, more passionately, and more completely than any other teaching and learning institution.

To realize this goal, Wesley has implemented an aggressive development strategy. It is an innovative and comprehensive framework – building on the traditional strengths in intellectual capital, instructional intelligence, and social sophistication while embracing new pedagogical skills, classroom organization, synergistic affiliations, and the emerging opportunities enabled by information technology.

Today, after 135 years, Wesley has an average student enrollment of over 2200 students and 120 teachers. The school is fully diversified providing academic activities concentrated in arts, sciences, and commerce delivered in all three media (Singhala, Tamil, and English). Wesley also provides excellent facilities for a broad a range of physical development activities, literary forums, clubs and societies.