With issues such as student fees and high drop-out rates still political hot-potatoes, this book is a timely and important survey of the real issues behind participation, and non-participation, and is sure to be as controversial as it is useful.

At the start of the 20th century higher education was the preserve of a privileged, almost exclusively male minority. Today more than 30 per cent of people in the United Kingdom embark on some kind of higher education. Over half of university students are

Introduction - Education in Demand? Annette Hayton and Anna
Paczuska. Part 1 The Changing Context for Higher Education:
Getting In and Getting On - Choosing the Best, Sheila Macrae and Meg Maguire
Challenging Inequality, Choosing Inclusion - Higher Educa