Education — A Discussion

Extract

I do not think that any report was ever so fortunate in the timing of its publication—although this was quite accidental— as the Robbins Report. An expiring Government and an aspiring Opposition have both welcomed it with open arms; a quite unusual state of affairs. It has received also a very good press, although there have been criticisms by some who were expecting recommendations on special issues such as sandwich courses or the place of liberal studies in technological courses and so on. But anyone making criticism of this kind has clearly not read the terms of reference given to the Committee, which were to review the pattern of full time higher education and in the light of national needs and resources, to advise the Government on what principles its long-term development should take place and to consider whether there should be any changes in the pattern and whether any new types of institution were desirable. Detailed problems lying within the pattern were outside our terms of reference.