DOCUMENT RESUME ED 415 724 HE 030 743 AUTHOR Pratt, John TITLE The Polytechnic Experiment: 1965-1992. INSTITUTION Society for Research into Higher Education, Ltd., London (England). SPONS AGENCY Committee of Directors of Polytechnics (England); Leverhulme Trust, London (England). ISBN ISBN-0-335-19564-4 PUB DATE 1997-00-00 NOTE 370p. AVAILABLE FROM Taylor & Francis, 1900 Frost Road, Suite 101, Bristol, PA 19007; phone: 800-821-8312; fax: 215-785-5515 ($125). PUB TYPE Books (010) Historical Materials (060) Reports Descriptive (141) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC15 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Administration; Adult Students; College Faculty; College Students; Cooperative Education; Diversity (Student); Educational Finance; *Educational History; Educational Legislation; Educational Needs; Educational Policy; Elitism; Financial Support; Foreign Countries; Governance; Government Role; Government School Relationship; Graduate Study; Higher Education; Nontraditional Education; Statistical Data; Student Characteristics; Technical Education; *Technical Institutes; Technology Education; Undergraduate Study IDENTIFIERS Council for National Academic Awards (England); *England; Further and Higher Educ Act 1992 (Great Britain); *Polytechnics; Wales ABSTRACT This history of the "polytechnic experiment" covers the period from the establishment of a binary British higher education policy in the mid-1960s to the passage in 1992 of the Further and Higher Education Act, which abolished the binary policy and the polytechnic sector, thus enabling the polytechnics in England and Wales to acquire the title of university and award their own degrees. During this period over 50 existing technical and other colleges were combined into 30 institutions in a nonuniversity, "public" sector in order to address the increasing need for vocational, professional, and industrial-based courses that could not be met by the universities. The polytechnics, which had more than 150,000 students by 1973, were unlike the universities; they had more undergraduate than graduate students, more part-time students, and more "sandwich" students (who alternate between jobs and courses). Chapters discuss the genesis of the polytechnic policy, present charts and data tables on student demographics, discuss the range of courses, styles of teaching, degrees awarded, faculty characteristics, funding, governance and management, and evaluates and successes and failures of the polytechnic concept. (Contains approximately 600 references.) (BF) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** The Society for Research into Higher Education The Polytechnic Experimen 1965-1992 PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY Taylor & Francis TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 1 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 0 ce of Educational Research and Improvement ED CATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy John Pratt BEST COPY AVAILABLE The Polytechnic Experiment 3 SRI-IE and Open University Press Imprint General Editor: Heather Eggins Current titles include: Mike Abramson et aL (eds): Further and Higher Education Partnerships Catherine Bargh, Peter Scott and David Smith: Governing Universities Ronald Barnett: Improving Higher Education Ronald Barnett (ed.): Learning to Effect Ronald Barnett: Limits of Competence Ronald Barnett: The Idea of Higher Education Tony Becher (ed.): Governments and Professional Education Hazel Bines and David Watson: Developing Professional Education John Bird: Black Students and Higher Education Jean Bocock and David Watson (eds): Managing the Curriculum David Boud et al. (eds): Using Experience for Learning Angela Brew (ed.): Directions in Staff Development Ann Brooks: Academic Women Frank Coffield and Bill Williamson (eds): Repositioning Higher Education Rob Cuthbert: Working in Higher Education John Earwaker: Helping and Supporting Students Roger Ellis (ed.): Quality Assurance for University Teaching Maureen Farish et al.: Equal Opportunities in Colleges and Universities Shirley Fisher: Stress in Academic Life Sinclair Goodlad: The Quest for Quality Diana Green (ed.): What is Quality in Higher Education? Susanne Haselgrove (ed.): The Student Experience Jill Johnes and Jim Taylor: Performance Indicators in Higher Education Ian McNay (ed.): Visions of Post-compulsory Education Robin Middlehurst: Leading Academics Henry Miller: The Management of Change in Universities Jennifer Nias (ed.): The Human Nature of Learning: Selections from the Work of M.L.J. Abercrombie Keith Noble: Changing Doctoral Degrees Gillian Pascali and Roger Cox: Women Returning to Higher Education Graham Peeke: Mission and Change Moira Peelo: Helping Students with Study Problems John Pratt: The Polytechnic Experiment Keell Raaheim et al.: Helping Students to Learn Tom Schuller (ed.): The Changing University? Tom Schuller (ed.): The Future of Higher Education Peter Scott: The Meanings of Mass Higher Education Michael Shattock: The UGC and the Management of British Universities John Smyth (ed.): Academic Work Geoffrey Squires: First Degree Ted Tapper and Brian Salter: Oxford, Cambridge and the Changing Idea of the University Kim Thomas: Gender and Subject in Higher Education Malcolm Tight: Higher Education: A Part-time Perspective David Warner and Elaine Crosthwaite (eds): Human Resource Management in Higher and Further Education David Warner and Gordon Kelly: Managing Educational Property David Warner and Charles Leonard: The Income Generation Handbook David Warner and David Palfreyman (eds): Higher Education Management Graham Webb: Understanding Staff Development Sue Wheeler and Jan Birtle: A Handbook for Personal Tutors Thomas G. Whiston and Roger L. Geiger (eds): Research and Higher Education Gareth Williams: Changing Patterns of Finance in Higher Education John Wyatt: Commitment to Higher Education The Polytechnic Experiment 1965-1992 John Pratt The Society for Research into Higher Education & Open University Press Published by SRHE and Open University Press Celtic Court 22 Ballmoor Buckingham MK18 1XW and 1900 Frost Road, Suite 101 Bristol, PA 19007, USA First Published 1997 Copyright © John Pratt 1997 All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher or a licence from the Copyright Licensing Agency Limited. Details of such licences (for reprographic reproduction) may be obtained from the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd of 90 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1P 9HE. A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library ISBN 0 335 19564 4 (hb) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Pratt, John, 1945 The polytechnic experiment, 1965-1992 / John Pratt. p.cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-335-19564-4 (hb) 1. Technical institutesGreat BritainHistory-20th century. 2. Technical educationGreat BritainHistory-20th century. I. Title. T107.P6981997 378.42'09'045dc20 96-38318 CIP Typeset by Graphicraft Typesetters Ltd, Hong Kong Printed in Great Britain by St Edmundsbury Press Ltd, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk Contents Preface vii 1 Introduction 1 2The Polytechnic Policy 7 3The Students 24 4 New Maps of Learning 108 5Staff 156 6From Academic Tutelage to Quality Assurance 203 7Funding 237 8Governance and Management 274 9Whatever Happened to the Polytechnics? 305 References 330 Index 351 The Society for Research into Higher Education 359 7 Preface The idea for this book arose from my experience at an OECD seminar in Austria in November 1991, trying to explain why it was that the British polytechnic policy had been so successful that it had been abandoned. The British experience seemed to be of considerable interest in Austria and other countries with or developing similar policies, and after being asked many times, 'What happened to the polytechnics?' I eventually real- ized that there was no single source to which enquirers could go for an answer. This book is an attempt to remedy this, by offering a history of the development of the polytechnics from the inception of the policy in 1965 to their attainment of univerity titles in 1992. As I started work on the book it became clear that the debate and the development of the polytechnics had as often been based on opinion as evidence, so I have tried to include evidence and other sources so that conclusions about the effects and effect- iveness of the policy can draw on these. The book would not have been possible without the award of an Indi- vidual Grant to me by the Leverhulme Trust, and for a further grant from the Committee of Directors of Polytechnics. I have to thank the Trust not only for this but for the light touch with which the award was administered. The freedom that Leverhulme offered is a reminder of times now probably lost for ever. The Trust is to be commended for its efforts to preserve the capacity for intellectual enquiry