ABSTRACT
University for Industry (UfI)/learndirect is one of a new breed of organizational brokers established by the state to bring together the capacities and expertise of higher education (HE) institutions to create new opportunities for learning and to widen and increase participation in HE. This chapter illuminates the most important brokerage strategies used to help create a system to support the new learning opportunities. The Learning through Work programme is taps into the main engine of work-place learning, the informal accumulation of knowledge and expertise through the experience of work itself. Three major concerns had to be addressed before a learner managed route to qualifications could be developed and delivered – relevance, quality and feasibility. A deal on these concerns needed to be brokered to the satisfaction of a wide range of key internal and external stakeholders. Brokered solutions were needed to: secure commitment, develop the scheme, build and operate.
