1. IntroductionIn the fast-changing 21st century, a prerequisite of rapid growth in economy and the ability to compete in the global environment for a nation is to have a successful and coherent policy and system for educating and training its existing and future workforce (Hodgson, 1993). Over the last decades, the United Kingdom higher education reform has never stopped its pace ahead of the national reform or been less intervention in the field of non-intervention principles. The important turning point of the former Prime Minister Tony Blair came into power. Blair's New Labour won the political power in 1997. From then on his government began a series of reform policy. Blair initiated lots of education reform policies. From the beginning, Blair's government has taken the drastic measures to promote higher education reform, promulgated and implemented a number of higher education reform policies, aiming to higher education development to fit in multi-demand and severe challenges.
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair
English: Popular vote by party in UK in general el...
James Keir Hardie was an early democratic socialis...With the background of Blair's construction of the new welfare state, higher education reform has been far beyond its own meaning and value.
With an overall review of the relevant literatures in higher education polities, the essay will describe and analyze the context of Britain's higher education policy. With the literatures and the analysis of context, this essay will examine the factors influencing the higher educational policy and discuss factors of the initiatives and the impact they have or would have on the UK educational reform and educational achievement.
2. Reviews of Relevant Literatures2.1. An Overall Comment on Higher Education PolicyIn Hawke's book 'Education Policy: International Comparison', he compared or formed a macro perspective of UK higher education policy to make the evaluation. Gordon, who co-author of the "20th century England, education and policy ", the editor of 'International Comparative Study of Higher Education Policy change...