Implementing English Further/Higher Education Partnerships: the Street Level Perspective

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>This paper reports on research into the operation of <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">E</jats:styled-content>nglish further/higher education, with a focus on the role of partnerships in supporting the massification of higher education. The research draws on the bottom‐up policy implementation tradition to provide analysis of the effects on partnerships of a quasi‐marketised environment. The rationale and effects of market orientated policy are discussed with reference to empirical data from college staff and partnership managers. In employing the concept of the ‘street‐level bureaucrat’ as an agent of policy implementation, this research contributes to the interpretation of policy and partnership which has previously been unexplored within the further/higher education context. Conclusions are drawn with implications for the development of college higher education delivered in partnership.</jats:p>