This paper focuses on the development of work-based learning programmes within higher education in the UK. It explores how 'partnership' with employers came to be seen as a central aspect of this new form of provision. However, we suggest that this emphasis on partnership has been problematic. We focus, in particular, on three areas of concern. Firstly, the limited evidence that employers wish to engage in these sorts of relationships with universities. Secondly, the problems arising from the different cultures of the potential partners and, in particular, different understandings of 'learning' and 'knowledge'. Thirdly, the emergence of the quality assurance agenda within higher education, which is reducing the influence of employers in these programmes. We conclude that the emphasis placed on partnership in the policy and practice literature may well be hindering the more widespread development of work-based learning in higher education.

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Scotland and England now have systems of work-related higher education which differ from each other in important respects. While Scotland embarks on a process of modernising its existing system of Higher National Certificates and Diplomas, in England there has been a decisive shift away from this form of provision towards Foundation Degrees. Meanwhile, providers in both countries are being encouraged to engage ever more closely with employers. This article draws on empirical work with programme organisers to explore the nature and extent of work-based and work-related learning that can be found within these two systems. Despite the contrasting national structures, we identify considerable continuity between practices in the two countries and also considerable variability in the forms of work-based or work-related learning which can be found within each of them. This variability emerges as a pragmatic response to the difficulties of engaging employers with these programmes, and could we suggest results in valuable learning experiences for students.

This paper offers a strategy for the development of successful work-based learning programmes within higher education. It identifies and addresses the key challenges facing such development. Firstly, whether it is possible to develop a work-based learning programme which provides an effective learning experience at higher education level and which draws upon opportunities within the workplace. Secondly, whether work-based learning programmes are an appropriate vehicle for structuring and accrediting the continuing development of the workforce. In addressing these challenges, we examine the design and quality assurance of a work-based learning programme for qualified social workers, placing particular emphasis on the development of an appropriate learning model. We consider some of the criticisms levelled at competence-based education and argue that work-based learning programmes composed of learning outcomes achieved entirely through practice can be compatible with the aims of higher education.

This article draws on the analysis from a 2-year empirical study of flexibility in further education. It outlines some of the major themes for managers and staff in attempts to introduce greater organisational flexibility into colleges: increased bus(i/y)ness, shifting identities, and notions of good and bad flexibility. The analysis suggests that insofar as increased 'busyness' is associated with shifting roles and responsibilities with consequent shifts in identity, for those who have worked in further education for some time there is a tendency to certain forms of nostalgic narratives about the good forms of flexibility in the past, compared with the present. The interview data suggests a complex picture of the ways in which flexibility is experienced in further education.