An Oxford teacher-training college is gearing up for its 150th birthday celebrations.

Staff and students will leave the Westminster Institute of Education, based at Harcourt Hill, North Hinksey, Oxford, to visit the original site of their college in Westminster, London.

Founded by Methodists, and originally known as Westminster College, the institute has left its mark on history.

Dr Evan Harris, MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, will join staff and students, past and present, for a celebratory tea and service at the Methodist Central Hall, Westminster on Sunday.

Before the service, the delegation will visit the college's original site in Horseferry Road, Westminster, which now houses Channel 4 Television.

The institute's spokesman Tim Macquiban said: "It will be an exciting day for us all."

The college was set up to train teachers to educate poorer people in London. Westminster was chosen as a site for the college because there was little provision for educating poor people in the area.

From its humble beginnings, the college is now one of the country's top teacher-training colleges. Former students include general secretaries and presidents of the National Union of Teachers.

Pre-Raphaelite artist James Smethem became the college's first arts master in 1851.

The outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 forced the college to re-think a planned move to Kent, and Oxford was chosen as the location. The founder of the Methodists, John Wesley, studied at Christ Church, Oxford.