Most importantly of all, higher education should teach students to be critical thinkers, capable of independent thought and innovation. Lifelong learning, if it is to be taken seriously, means that much material can, indeed must, be left until later. The range of people we have in mind will quickly become far wider than the universities have so far expected to teach. That means that along with more, and less traditional degree courses, new forms of education will be needed. Not all the talent available will be developed best by diluted versions of fairly traditional academic work.
Much imaginative effort is needed now to develop new forms of learning.
Professor Coldstream proposed two areas for action. First, strengthened partnerships with the world of work, with businesses contributing far more actively to university and college courses. Permanent university staff will need to be reinforced by part-timers who are practitioners from the rest of the working world. The students will be more widely dispersed and will begin their studies from a wider range of starting points. However, much remains to be done - requiring greater collaboration between institutions.