Discusses the recent panic in Great Britain concerning university applications and enrollments. (PG)

British educational policy has increasingly been driven by the concern that higher education should serve the needs of the economy more effectively. Close scrutiny of a recently published government report suggests not that Britain needs more graduates to prosper but that the country first needs to prosper before it can use the graduates it…

Press cuttings, official publications, and press releases are reviewed in this annual survey of British higher education. This article is complemented by an analytical study by Charles Carter in the same journal. (Editor/LBH)

The effects of the changing economic and social environment of universities are examined. It is suggested that the next decade will be one of increasing competition between universities and between them and the non-university sector of higher education. Universities will become more market-oriented and more responsive to consumer-students. (LBH)

Summary of the discussion document, issued by the Department of Education and Science and the Scottish Education Department, that considers the implications of declining enrollment in primary and secondary schools in Britain for the pattern of higher education over the next 15 years. Policy options are explored. (Author/JMD)

This survey, the second in an annual series, records the main developments in higher education during the period 1 August 1974 to 31 July 1975 in the United Kingdom. It draws on press clippings, official publications, press releases, and published accounts and analyses. Significant trends are identified. (Editor/LBH)

When large segments of the population need to be educated, social pressures come into play, aspirations are raised, and some mechanisms or ideology must exist to direct individuals to appropriate kinds of education. French, British, Soviet, and American systems for differentiation and selection are compared in this context. (MSE)

The conventional economic arguments favoring greater public support of higher education in Britain are compared with the "new right" economists' arguments for redirecting resources and changing the nature of higher education. It is suggested that resource reallocation is difficult because of institutional bureaucracy, and uniform…

The demand for education by adult students in 1980 is measured by a comparison of applications by and acceptances of adult and conventional students in various subject areas, age groups of applicants (21-24, 25-29, 30-39, and 40 and over), and chance of acceptance, by age group. (MSE)

In Britain, short-term labor market projections have been used in favor of long-term planning, but in order to do any comprehensive planning for education and training programs, appropriate data will have to be collected more diligently. Some change can be seen now, but even more will be needed in the future. (MSE)

The validity of proposed solutions to British higher education problems that would substitute competition and market mechanisms for the existing system of free education are discussed in the context of recent European experiences, the postsecondary education population, the education-employment equilibrium, and socioeconomic patterns. (MSE)

The outlook for the Open University is examined with regard to growth factors, new jobs for graduates, trends in the United Kingdom towards mass higher education, and transferability and collaboration. (LBH)

The Open University is playing a significant part in "compensatory" education by providing degree-level courses for large numbers of adults who for one reason or another did not go on to degree-level education after leaving school. It has attracted a large number of students from working-class backgrounds. (Author/LBH)

The aims and motives of schooling are changing, and it is becoming more and more a ritualized process of qualification-earning. The underlying causes of this change are traced through the education histories of Britain, Japan, Sri Lanka, and Kenya. It is illustrated that the competitve scramble for scarce modern jobs has created a "backwash…

As secondary school enrollment declines in Great Britain in the 1980s, local education authorities will face problems in deciding which schools and/or programs to cut. School districts must recognize that, whether they like it or not, parents will have an increasing impact on decision making. (IS)