A systems failures view of the UK National Commission into higher education report

In 1993 the author applied aspects of the formal system model to gain an understanding of the contemporary issues facing UK Higher Education and its potential for failure. In this paper that analysis is utilised to provide a perspective and a commentary on aspects of the 1997 report by the UK National Commission into Higher Education (NCIHE) chaired by Sir Ron (later Lord) Dearing. The NCIHE report addresses several of the issues raised by the earlier analysis, notably the potential need for increased resourcing of higher education, the strengthening of mechanisms for the expectations of students to be more influential, and the greater clarification of society's expectations of higher education. The Dearing report does not appear to offer progress on several other matters such as society's influence over the curriculum, and the routing of research funding. Some context is provided in terms of the earlier work and the motivation for applying the Systems Failures Method at that time. The paper concludes with some implications of the study for systemic investigations and the future of UK higher education.