Despite the obvious benefits derived from education, governments face difficult trade-offs when balancing the share of public and private contributions to education. Understanding how private expenditure is sourced, through public transfers or through private funds, can make a difference in enabling access to education and provide insights into…

This article examines what has happened to training in public sector organisations in the UK in a period of austerity. It draws on individual-level data collected over the period 2000-2012 and establishment-level data collected from employer surveys carried out between 2005 and 2012. To understand these data further, 75 qualitative interviews with…

When the global financial crisis hit in 2008, it looked at first as if many European universities were going to escape the worst. Higher education has long been considered a public right and a taxpayer-financed obligation, and there was optimism that universities, which government leaders hail as drivers of economic growth, would emerge relatively…

Not for the first time in its history, the UK Higher Education sector finds itself in a position of significant financial constraint. The current coalition Government's actions to address the budget deficit have led to sweeping cuts across many public sector departments, but it is higher education that has seen the most draconian reduction in…

This article reviews the development of Private Finance Initiative schemes in the United Kingdom, and reflects on how profitable opportunities for private financiers and construction companies were created at the expense of the public sector. (Contains 72 notes.)

Purpose: This paper sets out to examine the contribution of employer co-funding of publicly-funded vocational education and training in the UK (i.e. training initiatives that are available to all qualified applicants but funded jointly by the public and private sectors). Design/methodology/approach: The paper draws on qualitative research…

This paper explores the range of sources of funding for further education (FE) provision in the United Kingdom through maintained colleges. A description of the pre-1990 procedures, including the resource assumptions of central government funding of further education in the United Kingdom is included. An indication is given of the advice proffered…

This document contains seven papers examining the implications of proposed major reforms to the United Kingdom's post-16 sector. "The New Learning Market--Overview" (Caroline Mager) argues for balancing market-driven and planning-driven approaches to planning post-16 education. "Education and Training as a Learning Market"…

The literature on business involvement in education in Canada, the United States, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Japan, the United Kingdom, and other European countries was reviewed. Special attention was paid to the following topics: workplace trends/changes; skill requirements/deficits; youth employment/unemployment; integration versus…