FUTURE PROSPECTS FOR HORTICULTURAL EDUCATION IN ENGLAND

1. Horticultural education has developed and expanded steadily since its origins in the early years of this century to serve the needs of industry and the best interests of students. Early emphasis was on commercial production and a relatively high percentage of the teaching centred on glasshouse practice. In the 1950's attention became increasingly directed towards the sector which has generally become known as "amenity horticulture". Since then, education provision has been developed to meet the needs of the whole of the horticulture industry. The social, industrial and technological changes in more recent times, including heightened environmental awareness and health consciousness, have determined the pace of development and change across the whole spectrum of the horticultural industry allowing new sectors to emerge; legislation and economic forces have acted to produce further changes resulting in overall expansion, but with a declining labour force in some sectors. Horticultural education provision has strived to keep pace with these developments; it now faces change itself and, latterly, fundamental re-structuring and new funding arrangements which have affected the whole of the education and training service.
2. In most agricultural colleges, the number and proportion of horticultural students have increased to the present level of some 3,000 full-time and 20,000 part-time enrolments each year (26%). The present provision, based on external awarding bodies, is generally held to meet many needs from craft to post-graduate level. Changes currently being introduced aim to give even greater attention to the standards required by industry and to the particular needs of individual students. HM Inspectorate have reported that nationally there are good opportunities for students to follow courses of education at all levels, in a variety of ways and to specialise in their choice of the major sectors of horticulture. There have been two main trends: the introduction of a wider range of specialist courses at craft and technician level, and to a wider range of people; and an increase in the number of higher level and

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