Participation and progression in mass higher education: policy and the FHE interface

Authors:
  • DSDavid Smith
    David Smith
  • JBJean Bocock
    Jean Bocock
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Abstract
This article surveys the relationship between the further and higher education sectors in the UK context of mass higher education. The commitment to increase participation rates has highlighted the policy framework of post-school education particularly with regard to participation and progression. Although recent policies have encouraged the FE sector, often in collaboration with partners from higher education, to play a key role in widening participation and particularly the development of alternative progression routes, we conclude that the boundaries between the two, still separate, sectors continue to cause problems for many without A-level qualifications. Two dimensions are explored. The first is the rising importance of higher education provision in further education colleges as a means of widening access. Contrasting experiences in Scotland and England are discussed and related to different patterns of provision and progression. The second is the development of alternative progression routes and the experience of individual learners as they navigate their way through FE and into HE. We conclude that policy objectives based on mass participation in HE increasingly challenge the separate structural arrangements of further and higher education. New arrangements for the management of the FE/HE interface are certainly required if the goals of mass higher education and lifelong learning are to become a reality.