Unleashing the ‘undergraduate monster’? The second order policy effects of the 1988 Education Reform Act for higher education in England

Abstract

Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). What impact did the 1988 Education Reform Act (1988 ERA) have on higher education from the perspectives of professors working in the sector at the time? How did it reshape the sector's structures? How did it contribute to the conditions that have unleashed the so called ‘undergraduate monster’? These questions are addressed in this paper. I draw on semi-structured interviews with 14 professors working in universities in England to explore their perceptions of the changes from a system of polytechnics/universities to pre- and post-1992 universities. In doing so, this paper provides unique insights into second order policy effects created by the 1988 ERA for the sector. The data lead me to argue that the 1988 ERA made the introduction and increases in higher education tuition fees possible, further entrenching inequality in the composition of the student body in different types of Higher Education Institution (HEI).