Noise rather than numbers: Access to higher education in three European countries

This paper explores a number of special alternative arrangements for adults to access higher education in England and Wales, France and Germany and examines the impact on these arrangements of the relationship between the state and higher education in the three countries. The similarities and differences are analysed along two key dimensions: complexity-simplicity and rigidity-flexibility and the absence of clear statistical data in all three countries is accounted for by the way in which the various stakeholders justify their actions. Finally, Weller's theory of compensatory legitimation is drawn on to assess the effectiveness of the policy innovations and to explain why the noise around them has been louder than the numbers involved might warrant.