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The East India Company College, or East India College, was an educational establishment founded in 1806 to train "writers" (administrators) for the Honourable East India Company (HEIC). It provided general and vocational education for young gentlemen of sixteen to eighteen years old, who were nominated by the Company's directors to writerships in its overseas civil service.
The College's counterpart for the training of officers for the Company's Presidency armies was Addiscombe Military Seminary, Surrey.
Charles Grant, Chairman of the British East India Company and Member of Parliament, was closely involved in the foundation of the college. Opening in February 1806, it was initially located in Hertford Castle, before moving in 1809 to purpose-built premises at nearby Hertford Heath. The architect of the buildings was William Wilkins, who also designed the National Gallery in London.
In 1856 an open competitive examination replaced the system of appointment to the Indian Civil Service by patronage. In January 1858, in the wake of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the British government took over the administration of India and the College closed. The buildings were reopened in 1862 as a public school, Haileybury, and in 1942 its re-incarnation merged with the Imperial Service College to become Haileybury and Imperial Service College.