This article first draws together a range of published statistics to analyse trends in participation in higher education in the UK over recent years. That provides evidence of the shifting profile in the student population and sets a context for examining emerging evidence of the impact of recent government policy decisions on control of student…

In 1983, Burton Clark published a study that was to become a classic work on the organisation and government of higher education systems (Clark 1983). He constructed three "ideal types" of system--state system, market system and professional system, and summarised the way that national systems of higher education are dependent on the forms of…

Considers the implications of the British Government's recent strategy paper on higher education. Concludes that the government faced many difficult issues and could not achieve all the desired objectives. It is likely that British higher education will remain underfunded, with increasing problems of quality. (SLD)

Evaluates effects of the new British funding formula for universities, based on the research assessment exercise (RAE). Compares effects of the RAE on two contrasting universities and finds the RAE has dramatically affected university organization, teaching, and research. RAE may have increased efficiency in teaching and research but encourages…

Examines the assumptions and recommendations of a British government background paper on teaching and the teaching profession, particularly as it relates to college teaching. The paper's methods are found flawed and the proposals actively damaging, encouraging the government to pursue policies that provide superficial and unstable remedies. (MSE)

Responses of 600 higher education experts in seven Western European countries to a survey concerning government influence on higher education, currently and in the future, were analyzed to assess how different approaches to government role would affect higher education policy. It is concluded that different approaches would effect very different…

Perceived dangers to democratic development in the Czech society and, by extension, to higher education there, are examined, including commercialization combined with overt social stratification creating resentment and culture shock; termination of price control and guaranteed employment; withdrawal of state subsidies from popular and important…

Surveyed 249 faculty at two British universities regarding their perceptions of changes in teaching and research since the introduction of separate funding for teaching and research in 1986. Faculty at both the research-oriented and teaching-oriented university reported spending less time on research and more time on teaching and administrative…

Discusses the growing influence of the Teacher Training Agency (TTA) over initial and continuing teacher education in the United Kingdom since its inception in 1994, focusing on the TTA's 1996 agenda, the new National Curriculum for Teacher Training, continuing professional development, and educational research. Criticizes the agency's increasing…

The Rate Support Grant in England is described with focus on the way it is allocated and its consequences for education and for democracy. (Editor/LBH)

The present and historical role of the University Grants Committee (UGC) in Britain are analyzed with the conclusion that the organization, which was originally thought of as a buffer to protect universities from interference by Government, is by its scale and mode of operation now indistinguishable from a department of state. (JT)

Focusing on the British Government's reorganization of the colleges of education, where its powers over the future of institutions, student numbers and job opportunities have been utilized to the full, the author concludes that manpower planning in higher education has been profoundly undemocratic and perhaps not even beneficial. (JT)

The Gann Committee in Great Britain proposed a two-year course leading to a certificate in vocational education to train design technicians for industry. The author presents his disagreement with this proposal. (PG)

The British government insists that all of its possible sources of ethnic minority teachers have problems that may reduce the supply. The government is caught in a trap created by its own attitudes about affirmative action and is obsessed by educational traditions that no longer work. (MSE)

Britain's proposed plans for reform of higher education are criticized for lack of historical perspective on the nature and cultivation of culture and intellect, removal of institutional autonomy, and irresponsible government intervention. (MSE)