Papers relating to the Committee on Higher Education, better known as the Robbins Committee after its chairman Lord (Lionel) Robbins. It was established in 1961 to investigate the state of higher education in Great Britain and to advise on the long-term development of the university system. In particular, the Committee was associated with support for the major expansion in the number of university places for students, which occurred during the 1960s.
The file contains papers of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals produced in connection with evidence submitted to the Committee. There are also memoranda from UK universities responding to the University Grant Committee's 'Five Questions', a questionnaire issued by the UGC in 1960 which requested information from each University on: staff/student ratios; the extent to which each university took account of developments at other universities; entrance requirements; the balance of teaching and research; and arrangements for assessing performance at the end of the first year of study. The file includes replies from all universities except Aberdeen and Manchester. Most of the material in the file is not specifically concerned with conditions at Manchester.
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