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Expanding Higher Education in the UK: From ‘System Slowdown’ to ‘System Acceleration’
Author(s) -
Hodgson Ann,
Spours Ken
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
higher education quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.976
H-Index - 42
eISSN - 1468-2273
pISSN - 0951-5224
DOI - 10.1111/1468-2273.00163
Subject(s) - lifelong learning , government (linguistics) , acceleration , slowdown , higher education , educational attainment , set (abstract data type) , economic growth , political science , economics , sociology , computer science , pedagogy , physics , linguistics , philosophy , classical mechanics , programming language
This paper sets out to explore the implications of current patterns of participation and attainment, particularly among 16–19 year‐olds, for the further expansion of higher education in the UK. It uses a range of recent statistics on participation and attainment to describe what is termed ‘system slowdown’. It then explores a basis for ‘system acceleration’ through the development of five possible routes into higher education both for 16–19 year‐olds and for adults. We conclude the paper by looking briefly at a number of inter‐related strategies the Government could adopt to encourage ‘system acceleration’. We suggest that unless the Government is prepared to consider policy changes of this type, it is unlikely to reach the higher education participation target it has set itself and may also jeopardise the basis for a sustainable lifelong learning system for the 21st century.