ABSTRACT
The tensions within Thatcherism become obvious in its educational policies. On the contrary, Thatcherism emphasizes the dependence of public benefits on characters distinguished by the vigorous virtues. In the Thatcherite view the agency for bringing up individuals armed with such virtues is the family. The uncertainty about the leading purpose of City Technical Colleges (CTCs) was part of a much larger ambivalence among Thatcherites about the proper nature and purpose of schools and universities. The strain in Thatcherism that led a Government committed to encouraging variety and choice to establish a national curriculum also determined the Government's policies towards universities. The Thatcher Governments failed to understand how profoundly different is the role of universities in a Britain made flourishing by individuals possessed of the vigorous virtues from the function assigned to universities in a Britain made to flourish by Bismarckian directives.
