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Home > Policy > White Paper, Notice, Announcement > White Paper > JAPANESE GOVERMENT POLICIES IN EDUCATION, SCIENCE, SPORTS AND CULTURE 1995 > University Reform in Other Countries 2

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University Reform in Other Countries
2. United Kingdom


Higher education in the United Kingdom has been based on a binary system consisting of universities on the one hand and polytechnics (which began to be established in the 1960s as educational institutions oriented toward practical training) and colleges of higher education on the other. Until the early 1980s the scale of higher education was smaller than in other European countries and the United States.

In 1987 the government published the white paper " Higher Education: Meeting the Challenge " and since then has pursued a policy of aggressively expanding higher education, with the aim of developing more highly trained human resources as a strategy for revitalizing the British economy.

The harsh financial situation is reflected in the methods chosen for this purpose, which include increased government intervention and the introduction of the competitive principle. The percentage of students advancing to higher education has increased more rapidly than expected and now exceeds 40%. This growth has raised a number of issues, including the provision of adequate funding and the maintenance of high standards of education and research.


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