Bedford Way Papers

The Report of the National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education (the Dearing Committee), Higher Education in the Learning Society, is widely recognised as a major landmark in the modern history of UK higher education. Although its most immediate outcome was the decision to introduce tuition fees, it has had considerable influence across a broad spectrum of issues, with a very large number of its 93 recommendations having been implemented. In this volume three main themes are examined: the impact over ten years of the Dearing Report; the process representing by the work of the National Committee of Inquiry, including in an international context; current issues and future prospects for UK higher education policy and practice in the light of this history. Designed to look both backwards and forwards, this wide-ranging, research-based study offers an evaluation of the issues facing the higher education system in the future.