All its students are expected to complete seven IGCSE exams (Cambridge University) in year 10 and receive an International Baccalaureate diploma in their last year at school. The college is located in the area of San Isidro. It was founded by the Irish Christian Brothers who still provide staff. The motto of the college is "Fight the Good Fight" (in Latin: "Certa Bonum Certamen") which is taken from St. Paul's first letter to Timothy in which Paul writes "fight the good fight of faith to win for yourself eternal life" (Timothy 6:12)." The Christian Brothers seek to educate men with the vision of his founder, Edmund Ignatius Rice (1762–1844). "Honesty, loyalty, solidarity, and deep moral values; give them the strength to fight for good causes, with honor and moral integrity". The college is an important centre for Rugby union in Argentina and Club Newman has close connections with it. The college was founded in 1948 as the result of many years' effort by the Irish immigrant community in Argentina to obtain a pastoral and education ministry from the Irish Catholic Church. The Passionists had arrived in the mid-19th century and one of their priests, Father Fahy, who had established a boys’ school in 1860, suggested then that the Christian Brothers should take it over. However, this request was refused by the order because they were concentrating their efforts in the United States and, later, in Australia and New Zealand, where much greater numbers of Irish people had migrated. In 1946, Father Dominic Moore, provincial of the Passionist Order, visited the Superior of the Christian Brothers in Dublin, and once again promoted a new foundation in Argentina. His request was accepted, and in November 1947, Brothers Joseph Ignatius Doorley (founder of various schools in USA) and Cornelius O’Reilly arrived in Buenos Aires. Father Moore found a suitable building in Belgrano 1548 and the new school was named after Cardinal Newman. Colegio Cardenal Newman was opened on the Belgrano site on 29 March 1948. The national education programme in Spanish was followed during the morning, allowing the afternoons to be devoted to English. Brother Alphonsus L. Pakenham was the first Rector. He presided over a community of 7 brothers, 8 lay teachers, and 148 students, 27 of whom were boarders. In 1949 the roll increased to 200 boys and there "would have been more had there been more vacancies".