This seminar will be using the base in Newcastle upon Tyne to discuss and demonstrate current issues in Education in the UK today.

Introductory sessions will set the scene; presenting the overall context, in which Central Government defines policies, then presents and specifies initiatives, and delegates to Local Authorities or bodies which are funded by, but are not part of the Government structure the responsibility to purchase or provide Education.

There have been many changes in the organisation of Education in the UK; all are most immediately experienced at a local level. By using a base in the North of England which is urban, but adjacent to some of the most rural parts of Britain we shall hear speakers whose knowledge and experience enables them to address a range of issues in their presentations.

Whilst the seminar will look primarily at School Based Education and Higher Education in visits and presentations there will also be discussion of the Further Education system, Work/Employer Based Learning and new ways of involving ‘non traditional’ education and learning environments.

The major themes will include Quality, in a Curriculum and Institutional sense, Qualifications, Raising Standards, Leadership and Management in Education. We will consider the way Education is funded and the requirements placed by the ‘funder’ upon those receiving funds.

Finally it is hoped to gain a real sense of the way in which the education network is structured and inter-relates with the wider community in which it is based.

This seminar is for BRITISH COUNCIL STAFF ONLY