4.1 In October 1997, the Prime Minister announced that the Government will provide for an extra 500,000 people in further and higher education by 2002. This pledge will allow more people to have the chance of a college or a university education and will extend educational opportunity to many people who would not otherwise have had the chance to learn.

4.2 This Chapter considers the role that the learning institutions and others supporting them will play in the Learning Age, and in particular how they can open up access for the many and not the few. We would welcome views on their contribution and on the support they will need in order to achieve the ambitious objectives we have set.