About Us

The Oxford Learning Story

The story of Oxford Learning is so much more than simply the story of a tutoring company. 

The Oxford Learning story is the story of a family-based business determined to make a real and lasting difference in how students approach thinking and learning. It is the story of a company committed to the idea that there is a better way to learn.

Founded by Dr. Nick Whitehead in 1984 in London, ON, the first Oxford Learning location began with only a few simple programs in place. At the time, cognitive learning was still a new concept in the field of education.

Thanks to Dr. Whitehead’s research in the field of epistemology—the branch of philosophy that deals with the nature and scope of learning—he knew there was a better and more effective way to help students get better grades.

The Cognitive Learning Difference

The primary goal was to teach students a different way to think about how they learn, equip them with confidence in their abilities, and teach them the tools they need to be successful students for life.

Word began to spread as students enrolled and began to see the difference Oxford Learning was making to their grades. Soon, Oxford Learning was a busy tutoring centre filled with students learning new skills and new ways to approach their learning.

“We start building school confidence with every incremental gain, whether it’s completing a page or mastering a skill. What the student gets to take away isn’t just better grades—better grades are a by-product—it’s the feeling and the knowledge that they are capable of approaching learning in a way that will help them become better students,”
Dr.  Nick Whitehead.

With a few years of student success, Oxford Learning grew—opening a second franchise location in Burlington, ON, and then expanding across Canada, the US, the Caribbean and the Middle East.

Oxford Learning’s story began four decades ago with the goal of helping students succeed, and in those forty years of operations in Canada, Oxford Learning has never wavered from the original founding philosophy: that every child, no matter what, is capable of reaching their goals with the right support.

Oxford Learning is proud to be active participants in hundreds of communities across Canada, supporting students and their families inside and outside the classroom. We’re also proud to offer exclusive, Canadian-developed curricula written in-house by our team of education experts.

But mostly, we’re proud of helping hundreds of thousands of Canadian students realize their dreams through better grades, improved confidence, and brighter futures.

Our Mission