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Countries » OECD » United Kingdom
  • ©Reuters/Luke MacGregor

    Higher education: Funding and affordability

    The coalition government of the UK is seeking to achieve two main goals by reforming funding of higher education in England.

    (637 words)
  • Taking a robust stance on bribery

    Bribery is a modern day scourge on international trade. At a time when so many people are struggling through an economic downturn, bribery is a very real disease threatening our prosperity. It poses a serious challenge to the development of economies and contributes to market failure. It distorts competition, damages free enterprise and blights business. It stifles talent and innovation and kills entrepreneurship. In many cases it is the poorest in society who are hit the hardest

    (711 words)
  • Click to order

    Buy local?

    On 27 May 1882, The Times newspaper proclaimed, "Today we have to record such a triumph over physical difficulties, as would have been incredible, even unimaginable, a very few years ago". They weren't talking about Queen Victoria avoiding a recent assassination attempt by a poet she'd annoyed or Jesse James having less luck with a friend he'd trusted. They were talking about sheep meat.

    (529 words)
  • The OECD is a "force for good"

    “The government’s top priority is reducing the nation’s deficit and returning Britain to strong and sustainable growth. That means the right economic policies at home and creating the right economic environment abroad.

    (259 words)
  • Prime Minister Cameron waves on the steps of 10 Downing Street, May 2010 ©Cathal McNaughton/Reuters

    Advice for Britain

    Remember New Labour? The election triumph of Tony Blair’s Labour Party in 1997 captivated the world.

    (707 words)
  • Healthy immigration?

    You rightly point out that “the supply of medical staff reflects global movements of labour” (No 262, Databank, July 2007). But many of us might disagree with your upbeat headline: “Healthy immigration”. In a report published in 2005, the Royal African Society argues that while recruitment of African medical professionals has shored up western health services, it has left the health sector in sending countries facing permanent crisis or even complete collapse.

    (193 words)
  • Bill Rammell Photo © Claudia Daut/Reuters

    Fee education

    A basic problem with delivering a better higher education system is funding. Since the Second World War higher education, just as secondary and primary schools, has been considered as a public good, and so in most OECD countries the service had to be delivered free of charge to students through taxation. However, tighter public budgets and stiffer global competition for talent have led to a renewed interest in student fees as a possible way of raising more funding. The issue poses several tricky challenges, about access, equity, student finance, debt, and so on. Little wonder the debate has become rather heated in several countries.

    (921 words)
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NOTE: All signed articles in the OECD Observer express the opinions of the authors
and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the OECD or its member countries.

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