Anthony Abell College

Anthony Abell College (abbrev: AAC; Maktab Anthony Abell) is a government secondary school in Seria, a town in Belait District, Brunei. It was one of the earliest secondary schools to be established in the country. The school provides five years of general secondary education leading up to O Level qualification. It has 630 students. The current principal is Mas Diana binti Haji Abdul Samat.

Name
The college is named after His Excellency Sir Anthony Foster Abell, a British colonial official who served as the 3rd Governor of Sarawak from 1949 to 1959. The first draft of the constitution of Brunei, drafted by Abell and his colleagues, protected Brunei's sovereignty while also catering to the wishes of the country's Malay constitutional committee. In 1958, the 1957 London Negotiations were revisited in Brunei. At a meeting on 27 October 1958, at Istana Darul Hana, Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III and Abell talked about the outcomes of the London negotiations.

History
The school founded in December 1952 and was known as the Government English School. The first building was only a scout hut located in Jalan Sultan, Kuala Belait. This building housed 22 students and one teacher who was also the principal, Mr. D.S. Carter.

In January 1953, the Government English School moved to Seria Town at the current Post Office site with a building of 2 classrooms. In January 1954, the school had its own building located between Jalan Tengah and Lorong 2 Seria accommodating 57 students.

In 1958, the school moved to the present building at Jalan Sultan Omar Ali, Seria. During the year, the first phase of the college building complex was opened by Sir Anthony Abell himself. Clearing and piling for the college second phase were part of the work during the three government English schools construction projects in that same year. To commemorate the event of the college's renaming to Anthony Abell College, Abell officiated the opening and placed a plaque in the AAC on 18 December 1958.

The construction of two coeducational preparatory and junior secondary schools, one in Kuala Belait and one in Tutong, with capacity for 1,080 students each, staff housing, and hostel accommodations for 400 of them (200 boys and 200 girls) constitutes the primary development project in English-medium education. This project was approved in 1966. After these two schools' preliminary sections are finished, the AAC preparatory annexes in Kuala Belait and Tutong, respectively, will be replaced.

As of 1967, the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien College (SOASC) in Brunei Town, the AAC at Seria with preparatory annexes at Kuala Belait and Tutong, and the Raja Isteri Girls' High School (STPRI) are the three government English-medium schools. At the time, AAC was extended to School Certificate/GCE O Level. The preparatory and secondary divisions of the college are coeducational.

There were preparatory courses offered in 1972 at the following schools: Sufri Bolkiah English School in Tutong, Perdana Wazir English School in Kuala Belait, AAC, and its associated buildings at several Malay primary schools. In 1972, the newly constructed dorms for girls and boys at Perdana Wazir English School and AAC were still closed. They can't be opened until Kuala Belait and Seria's new sewage systems are finished. From four to seven platoons, the Brunei Cadet Corps has expanded and is presently present at seven schools, including AAC. The year's last project was the B$22,200 Block 6 Classrooms for AAC construction.

In 2002, the college celebrated its Golden Jubilee.

Academics
The College provides secondary education from Year 7, aged 11–12 years old to Year 11, aged 15–16 years old. In National Education System for the 21st Century/ Sistem Pendidikan Negara Abad 21 (SPN21), generally students will study 5 years, from Year 7 to Year 11 or Express route for 4 years of study i.e. Year 7 to Year 10.

All students will follow common curriculum at Year 7 and Year 8. After Year 8, students will be channeled to one of the following: 1. General Secondary Education Programme ( Year 9 to Year 10 or Year 9 to Year 11) 2. Applied Secondary Education Programme ( Year 9 to Year 11) 3. Special Applied Programme (Year 9 to Year 11)

Students will complete the general schooling system or proceed to vocational and technical institutions only after completing Year 10 (4-Year General Secondary Education Programme) or Year 11 ( 5-Year Secondary Education Programme) before sitting for BC GCE 'O' Level, IGCSE, BTEC or other alternative qualification.

In Special Applied Programme, the College offered only 2 BTEC courses i.e. Pearson BTEC Hospitality and Pearson BTEC IT Users (ITQ) at up to Level 2. The college also offered Specialised Education Programme which caters for students who are in the following need categories: 1. visually and auditory impaired 2. physically challenged 3. specific learning challenges

Notable alumni

 * Adnan Buntar, diplomat
 * Abidin Abdul Rashid (1939–2020), politician
 * Sulaiman Damit (1941–2016), military officer and diplomat
 * Husin Ahmad (born 1944), military officer
 * Abdul Aziz Abu Bakar (born 1945), cheteria and spouse of Princess Masna Bolkiah
 * Razali Johari (born 1946), former chairman of BIMP-EAGA
 * Norsiah Abdul Gapar (born 1952), writer
 * Suyoi Osman (born 1952), politician and diplomat
 * Jemat Ampal (born 1954), diplomat
 * Yasmin Umar (born 1956), politician and military officer
 * Maizurah Abdul Rahim (born 1999), National sprinter
 * Malai Abdullah Othman (died 2019), social worker