The Dearing report failed to see the growth potential of part-time study, postgraduate education and continuing personal and professional development, vice chancellors say.
In its official response to the report, the Committee of Vice Chancellors and Principals welcomes the prime minister's announcement of extra student numbers, but it insists growth in sub-degree places should go to higher as well as further education.
The CVCP is already setting up a shadow council with representatives from key stakeholders to incorporate the new Institute of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education by September 1998.
The committee is "strongly in favour" of an enhanced external examiner system and wants teaching quality assessment to stop as soon as possible to allow this. But it suggests a larger number of examiners than recommended by Dearing and wants them to be accredited by ILTHE rather than the Quality Assurance Agency.