It was said in 1992 that the Polytechnic Directors sat in Whitehall and drafted the framework and legislation that saw the totemic end to the binary divide. Today it is the group of ‘challenger’ institutions that have been most influential in the development of the reforms on the table.
Not always pushing at an open door, and with significant resistance from within the traditional sector, Alex Proudfoot’s ‘independent’ universities still face an uphill struggle for an equal footing with the traditional sector. However, following numerous mooted changes to funding and regulation, their oft-repeated dream of a “level playing field” is not all that far off. Proudfoot and his representative body bear significant responsibility in ensuring that new providers play within the rules and that the traditional sector’s worst fears about the excesses and failures of private higher education do not come to pass in a more liberalised system.
New figures from the alternative HE sector are growing in influence. Read more here.