ABSTRACT
Schools are compulsory. Universities are selective. Colleges are the adaptive layer in the education system. Shock waves from the worlds of work, politics or the family often rebound off school walls or ivory towers, but frequently permeate further education. Colleges teach new recruits in their first week at work and recruit redundant workers on their first day on the dole. Colleges fill the gaps left by secondary schools. They offer chances to those on school-linked programmes and second chances to school leavers.
