The English Higher Education System: Market Driven or Politically Controlled?

Abstract

In a higher education system that is state funded, the establishment of autonomous universities theoretically provides government with no direct control over the system it funds. The article examines how the United Kingdom government has used the indirect levers at its disposal to drive universities to implement its policies. In this context the concept of a market driven system is illusory. Political control can be exercised without direct managerial intervention.