The Higher Still Policy Process

In 1994 the document Higher Still: Opportunity for All outlined the government's plans for a 'unified system' of post-16 education and set in motion one of the most wide-ranging programmes of reform that Scottish education has ever seen (Scottish Office 1994). The reform is due to be implemented in 1999, having twice been postponed. In this article we review the policy process over the four years after Opportunity for All was published. We also consider the interaction between the process and content of policy: what distinctive features docs the policy process assume if the policy in question is one to develop a unified system?