The Emergence of the Colleges of Higher Education

Summary

In March 1976, when the above study began, the colleges of education in Britain were awaiting details of the planned reduction in the number of students they could accept for teacher training. The three colleges in this study were amongst the first to implement plans which offered a greater diversity of courses and programmes of study. However, what sort of student and how many of them would enrol on such diversified programmes was a matter for speculation. The sharing of some courses between the different degree programmes was not only untried in this country but the attractiveness of such an arrangement to students was unknown. Whether the colleges, with their roots in teacher training, would attract students different from the traditional intake was a further source of uncertainty.

This paper provides an outline of the historical background, the constraints upon diversfication and the changes which took place in college organization. An account is also given of those aspects of the study which dealt with the characteristics of the student population who entered the three colleges from 1976, their aspirations, selection of programmes and courses and their academic experience of these institutions.