ABSTRACT
The announcement in 1992 of a White Paper on 'diversity' in education brought mixed reaction. It implies variety, difference and plurality and has recently been associated with business and finance. Businesses extend their activities into various disparate fields in order to minimise risks and increase the chances of profit. Diversity seems an appropriate aim for a Government intent on encouraging schools to develop as businesses rather than remain as outreaches of a Welfare State. The language of the White Paper Choice and Diversity is not modest: The previous decade focused on the raising of standards. Now this White Paper carries this great programme of reform further forward. The 1992 White Paper supports the diversification of the academic curriculum, but its recommendations are somewhat insubstantial. It is difficult to see how they could be otherwise, given the demands of the National Curriculum. 'Non-academic' is not a satisfactory descriptor of the vocational curriculum, but then neither is 'vocational'.
