4. Colleges Open for Business

With rapid technological change and international competition for traditional markets, new approaches to training have been developed. The old pattern of college provision with rigidities of time, place and pace is giving way to a flexible and responsive attitude which takes a market‐oriented approach to a new “bespoke” product, often in the form of open learning. The ways in which this change has come about and the new initiatives that have arisen are outlined. Open learning materials production and delivery systems are discussed. A case study of the Oxford Centre for Adult Learning is presented, which shows how a large further education college has been able to collaborate with local employers in identifying training needs and design, establish and market appropriately flexible education and training systems.