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This paper argues that the evolution of further education colleges in England is marked by both continuities and change, and provides evidence to show that they retain many of the characteristics and the underlying rationale present at the turn of the twentieth century. A defining characteristic remains the colleges’ need to respond to student demand in a continued climate of voluntarism and lack of policy commitment to the education of young people beyond school-leaving age. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Changes in the dynamics of Higher Education management have been a factor that has transformed the hierarchy and governance of UK institutions, moving away from collegial influence and integrity to that of 'managerialised' and business-centred concerns. The contention that university education is increasingly viewed as a commercial entity and product provides additional dilemmas in adhering to previous collegial management structures. Universities today are increasingly required to balance collegial traditions of excellence in learning and knowledge dissemination with the need for financial viability. This paper intends to bring to the fore some of the prevalent issues existent in collegial management alongside the assimilation of commercialised and increased management practices. In addition to this, utilising qualitative interview data collected from a UK wide university study, this paper further aims to provide insights into the current dilemmas of management and organisational change based on the perceptions of staff members operating within the sector. The results highlight growing financial considerations and commercialisation of university education but identifies strong adherence to scholarly integrity and altruistic tendencies. Moreover the paper indicates growing managerial paradigms and rhetoric but posits the existence of sub-structural application of 'pockets of collegiality' embedded in institutional and individual cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The separation of examining from teaching, pushed furthest in the ‘examining university’ of which London University, founded in 1836, was the model, was a much-debated principle in nineteenth-century Britain. This separation was generally rejected in Scotland, but only after complex controversies that illustrate how Scots defined their university tradition in comparative terms, and how Scottish developments interacted with those in England and Ireland. Among the issues involved were proposals for a National University or central examining board, and claims that graduates should have a right to give ‘extramural’ teaching in competition with professors. The paper traces this aspect of university reform in Scotland from the 1820s to the 1890s, and argues that the professorial model and the integration of teaching and examining were successfully consolidated and defended. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Over the past decade higher education policy in England has gradually switched from a stance of ‘government as purchaser’ to ‘government as informer’. During 2012 this policy stance has been intensified through new requirements for the advice provided by schools and the introduction of ‘Key Information Sets’ which are intended to ‘drive up quality’ through informed choice. This paper documents this policy shift and subjects it to critical scrutiny. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The author reflects on the problems in learning institutions in Great Britain. He argues that many of the problems of the English universities are due to the changes in the society and the challenges caused by the rapid growth of the whole educational system. Moreover, the author contends that the country's educational system does not educate individuals who would fit in the kind of society in the future.