EXTRACTS FROM THE REPORT: ROBBINS … TECHNICIANS AND THE PROFESSIONS

Report Ch XI: PART‐TIME STUDY AND PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION 510. Our terms of reference relate to full‐time higher education. Our picture of the future pattern would, however, be incomplete if it did not refer to other forms of higher education. As we showed in Chapter III, a considerable amount of work at degree level is done by part‐time or private study, together with much other work falling within the definition of higher education set out in Chapter I. Some universities afford facilities for part‐time work, but most part‐time study takes place in further education. Other work, sometimes of a high quality, is done by students working alone or under the guidance of the correspondence colleges. Up to the present, part‐time higher education has been growing at the same rate as full‐time education, and we believe that it must continue to grow. As access to full‐time courses becomes easier the rate of growth may sharply diminish, but in the period up to 1980–81 the indications are that total numbers will not fall.