British Universities Past And Present

Universities are a major part of the modern British educational system and at the forefront of political debate. They have, however, changed in nature, as well as expanding in number, since the first foundations of medieval times. For centuries, Oxford and Cambridge, the only English universities, provided a clerical education and, later, a classical education for the elite. Since the nineteenth century university provision has steadily increased, with civic and then redbrick universities offering a wide spectrum of subjects even before the massive expansion of recent times. British Universities Past and Present is a succinct survey of the history of British universities as a whole. It shows the external and internal forces, from government regulation and finance to changes in educational outlook and specific reports, that have shaped the universities we have today. Current issues of policy cannot be fully understood without taking the historical perspective into account.