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The purpose of this paper is to report the findings of a joint study carried out with groups of colleges in England and technical and further education (TAFE) institutes in Australia. It looks at the factors which promote the delivery of higher technical skills and the infrastructure arrangements that are needed for success. It relates these to the debate concerning the promotion of higher and degree apprenticeships (HAs and DAs) in England.

The report is derived from a series of interviews with college and TAFE staff. A policy comparison is also included to provide context.

The outcome of the study suggests that similar factors affect the decision to offer, pursue and contribute to the development of higher technical skills in both countries. HAs and DAs are an English construct and the experience of colleges involved in HAs adds a valuable contribution to discussions surrounding the marketing and delivery of DAs. The Australian decision not to pursue either structure encourages reflection on what it is that governments are trying to achieve and what lessons can be learned from their approach.

The study was carried out within the non-university sector in both countries. Colleges and TAFE institutes are more likely to offer practice-based higher education (HE), have teaching staff with industry backgrounds and have long-established engagement with employers that may be found within universities. The paper was therefore written from a distinctive environment. However, it is likely that the issues identified apply to universities and private providers of HE as much as to colleges and TAFEs.

The findings suggest that developing HAs or DAs should not be seen merely as just another marketing opportunity. The hybrid nature of both structures requires a holistic approach to delivery on the part of institutional leaders that leads to significant overhaul of internal communications networks, quality assurance schemes and staff development.

The paper is one of relatively few published documents which focus on the role of dual sector colleges and TAFE institutes in the delivery of HE and higher technical skills. It offers insight into how government pressure for a particular style of HE, deemed necessary for the national economic interest of both countries, can be made into a reality. By using the expertise that already exists within the college and TAFE sectors and their established links with employers, more effective changes can be made at a faster pace.

Discusses the difficulties of attracting students to engineering courses at universities and colleges. Examines the case of one college in mid‐Anglia which decided that, to attract more students to its courses, more sophisticated technology should be made available in schools; describes the basics of a project to share robots between certain schools. Reviews the benefits achieved so far and the aims for the future (i.e. closer links with industry). Concludes that a good start has been made, but further promotion of engineering is needed.

I still have an affiliation to BSI, but my current prime role is with a new organisation called Resource which is half‐way between the British Government and BSI, with an express role to improve the influence of the UK through co‐operative projects with overseas countries. So, the sort of information consultancy I was doing in Thailand and Saudi Arabia, and various other countries, I am still doing but with a wider brief to help not only BSI but other quality organisations and I hope possibly organisations like the ones you work for. One of the reasons why I am saying this is to encourage you to see me at a later stage if you have any interest in overseas developments of projects on the information side, to see whether we can assist or even contribute funds towards the development of such things. Having only been with Resource since 25 January 1988, I think it would be undiplomatic of me to speak on their behalf, so for the purpose of this exercise I am speaking only as John Widdowson, individual and traveller, with, hopefully, some outside view.

The purpose of this paper is to report research carried out by the Mixed Economy Group of colleges into the student experience of part time (PT) higher education (HE) delivered in English further education (FE) colleges.

An online survey was completed by 352 PT students. Their responses, including free comments, formed the basis of the report. The authors provide a context for the work by referring to research carried out by other national agencies.

The research illustrates the strengths of college-based HE, which largely derives from delivery by staff who are qualified teachers and, often, professionally active in their field of expertise. Whilst valuing this, students also seek recognition of the demands of work and family on their study time, as well as an identity as HE students within the greater FE environment.

PT HE can drive regional economic growth. By addressing the issues raised by students in the research, local colleges, partner universities, employers and national government can re-build local skill bases. Promoting PT HE develops a vocational ladder to HE, thus widening participation.

Relatively little publically available research exists into the experiences of students pursuing PT HE in colleges. This primary research begins an evidence-based debate about how colleges can improve their offer but also reminds Government of the need to give equal weight to the needs of PT students in future changes to the delivery of HE.

Governments of all major industrialized communities are steadily extending the areas in which they seek to regulate the day‐to‐day activities of ordinary people. This raises important problems in ensuring that people know what is being required of them. I shall in this paper be describing these problems as we see them in the new Health and Safety Executive (HSE). But after spending thirty years in various jobs in the public service I am sure that the problems facing us are similar to those which arise in many other fields.

AT THE instigation of Peter Labdon, who is County Librarian of Suffolk as well as a member of the executive committee of the National Book League (when his awesome editorial responsibilities at NLW allow him the time), the NBL is starting an exciting new development designed to create, it is hoped, a set of regional branches throughout the UK.

I AM EARLY on parade this month, dear readers, because during the first week in March, when I should have constructed this column, I had a series of important meetings in a village called Alpbach to execute business contracts with ski‐instructors and hoteliers and the like. You people who work in the public domain don't realise the heavy pressures we businessmen have to face.

To most readers of Nutrition and Food Science, “McCance and Widdowson” is the name of the book they will reach for when they need to, say, compare the protein content of a cheese sandwich and a sausage roll. The Chemical Composition of Foods was first published in 1940 and even now in its fifth edition it is still very much the “bible” for nutritionists, food scientists, dietitians and many others.