The emergence of learning policy is traced through a concise history of postwar UK education and training. The 1944 settlement is seen to be replaced by a new settlement marked by the 1988 Education and the 1992 Further and Higher Education Acts. This also signals a change from the classic, postwar welfare state to a postwelfare, workfare or "contracting state". This new state form is illustrated by examining the new system of "Foundation" and "Lifelong Learning" from primary to postgraduate schools.

"Learning Policy identifies a new area of social policy which is described for the first time in this book. The distinguishing feature of this new policy is that it integrates education and training with the economy to an unprecedented extent. This integration is undertaken as part of economic development alongside social policies contributing to reform of the welfare state. The development of such a learning policy is traced through five phases in England and Wales from the postwar settlement of the 1944 Education Act to a new settlement represented by the 1988 Education Act and the 1992 Further and Higher Education Act."--BOOK JACKET. "In the latest phase of learning policy, the New Labour Government is seen as moving further towards privatising education and training at all levels, at the same time as creating a regionally differentiated learning infrastructure."--BOOK JACKET.

The emergence of learning policy is traced through a history of postwar UK education and training. The 1944 settlement is seen to be replaced by a new settlement marked by the 1988 Education and 1992 Further and Higher Education Acts. This also signals a change from the classic, postwar welfare state to a postwelfare, workfare or contracting state.