Mass flexibility with lifelong learning

Students. For the National Union of Students, the "greatest challenge" for higher education is "the creation and development of a mass system, with comparable participation rates from all social groups."

It argues for a fundamental redefinition of higher education: "The traditional view of higher education as full-time students on first degree courses, now actually constitutes less than half of university enrollments." The NUS argues that the divisions between further and higher education and the notions of training and education are breaking down: "The NUS believes the future of post-16 education should be the continued creation of a far more flexible learning environment, with greater acceptance of the concept of lifelong learning for the whole population."