Introduction

The introduction of liberalisation into education varied according to each part of the sector. Universities already had a mixed economy of state funding for fees, public and private sector research funding, spin out companies and endowments, so there was less of cultural issue to address within the institution, although academic staff were less supportive of this approach (Walford, 1988). For new universities, the removal of higher education establishments from local authority control and their transition into the same model as other universities in 1992 appeared to reflect a longstanding pathway for new universities (Stone, 1998). This was not publicly associated with the preparation for the implementation of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) in 1996, where the vast majority of public services were subject to market liberalisation. The leadership of each university within this expanded set of institutions would need to change to include private sector experience but incentivisation of competition between universities for students and funding would encourage change (Deem et al, 2007).

For younger children, the provision of pre-school care has always been a mixed market (Melhuish, 2006). Parents placed children in local authority nurseries attached to schools or run independently. Parents also used au pairs and nannies employed directly or placed their children in private day nurseries or with child minders. In this sector, there was no expectation of universal public provision and the opportunity to place a child in a school nursery related to local policy. In some local authorities such as London, there was a strong commitment to nursery places in both free-standing and school-related settings but there was no consistency across the country.

The most difficult and challenging part of education provision to introduce liberalisation was that of mainstream school education for children aged 5–18. The role of private education through public and preparatory schools had been the subject of reviews including the 1944 Education Act, which had introduced them into the state system using the 11 plus and the direct grant and voluntary aided models rather than adopt a policy of abolition but many of these returned to the private sector when comprehensive education was introduced in 1976.