Further education was officially described as the “post-secondary stage of education, all vocational and nonvocational provision made for young people who have left school, or for adults.” Further education thus embraced the vast range of , technical, commercial, and art education and the wide field of It was this sector of education, which was concerned with education beyond the normal school-leaving ages of 16 or 18, that experienced the most astonishing growth in the number of students.
In the 19th century, the dominance of the and the was challenged by the rise of the civic , such a Manchester, and Birmingham. Following the lead of the 18th-century German universities and responding to a public demand for increased opportunity for new civic universities quickly recognition—not only in technological fields but also in the fine a
Many new post-school technical colleges were founded in the early 20th century. The Fisher Act of 1918 empowered the local authorities to levy a rate (tax) to finance such colleges. The universities, on the other hand, received funds from the central government through the University Grants Committee, established in 1911 and reorganized in 1920, after
A new type of established in the 1960s, the polytechnic, provided mainly university-level technological as well as general courses in the arts and sciences. Polytechnics were chartered to award degrees validated by a Council for National Academic Awards.
Thus, the level in the United Kingdom was made up of colleges of further education, technical colleges, polytechnics, and universities. The colleges offered full-time and part-time courses beyond compulsory-school level. Polytechnics and universities were mainly responsible for degrees and research. The innovative with its flexible admission policy and study arrangements, was established in 1971. It used various media to provide highly accessible and flexible higher education for working adults and other part-time students. It served as an organizational model and provided course materials for similar institutions in other countries.
Changes in British education in the second half of the 20th century extended education by level, and content without changing the basic values of the system. New areas for expansion included immigrant cultural groups and multicultural content, the accommodation of special needs, and the development of tools and content in the expanding fields of microelectronics.