ABSTRACT
As in other areas of post-compulsory education, however, the Government is committing itself primarily to a ‘supply-side’ strategy-focusing broadly on the supply of provision to stimulate learner demand. We would contend that historical analysis of participation trends in higher education suggests that sustainable expansion takes place when effective demand for learning has been generated (Hodgson and Spours, 2000). The largest rise in higher educational participation, which took place in the late 1980s and early 1990s, was underpinned by equally large rises in post-16 participation and achievement and by changes in occupational structure leading to increased demand for undergraduate degrees (HEFCE, 2001).
