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THE Standing Conference of Principals says that the Dearing report pays too much attention to 18-year-olds in higher education and too little to recommendations made by Helena Kennedy in her Widening Participation in Further Education report.

SCOP also warns that Sir Ron's plans to increase the amount of sub-degree work in colleges may be unwise because there may be no great demand from students or employers for such courses.

While SCOP broadly supports the government's student funding proposals, it says it preferred the original Dearing recommendation for flat-rate tuition fees and the retention of maintenance grants.