The Unit was founded at King’s College Cambridge at the request of the Provost, Lord Annan.

The distinguished King’s Fellow, Royston Lambert, focused the work on the role of boarding schools in the education of children. A Government commission established in 1965 supported the expansion of the research, which resulted in several important books including The Hothouse Society.
 
Lambert moved the Unit to Dartington in 1968 when he became headmaster of Darrtington Hall School.