英國高等教育的發展脈絡，可從1963年《羅賓報告》、1986年「引進之研究評鑑」、1992「擴充及高等教育改革法」以及1997年《狄寧報告》等去瞭解，惟談到近年來的改革趨勢，則必須從英國政府2003年發表的《高等教育之未來》白皮書以及2004年「高等教育法」著手。為了讓大學更開放給所有學生，並在世界經濟中更具競爭力，高教白皮書計劃在加強卓越研究、高等教育機構與企業之夥伴關係、提供卓越教學、配合需要擴充高等教育、公平就學機會、大學自主與財務等方面進行投資與改革，這份白皮書的大部分內容已納入「高等教育法」，該法允許大學可以在零至3,000英鎊之間決定它們的學費，讓畢業生年收入達15,000英鎊時才開始償還學費與助學貸款，並成立確保大學在收取調漲學費時不會排除弱勢學生的公平就學辦公室、審議學生申訴的仲裁辦公室以及藝術與人文研究委員會。就在高等教育法通過的同時，政府也宣布相關配合措施：引進新助學補助款、提高助學貸款額度、取消25年後尚未還清的學生貸款以及成立獨立委員會於三年後檢討不同學費政策之影響。高等教育撥款委員會於1992年成立以來，在高教改革中扮演重要的角色，它們的策略計畫以及與政府的關係將予以介紹。本文也選擇探討一些英國高等教育改革策略的進展，包括擴大就學人數與公平入學、改革研究評鑑制度、設立高等教育學苑及教學卓越中心、鼓勵大學募款和私人捐獻以及推動兩年制學士學位課程等。最後，則就英國近年來高等教育改革可供我國參考借鏡之處提出看法。

The history and background of higher education in the UK can be xamined and understood through several sources: the Robins report of 1963, the Research Assessment Exercise introduced in 1986, the Further and Higher Education Reform Act 1992, and the Dearing Report of 1997. To explore its more recent development one should refer to the White Paper, entitled "the Future of Higher Education", published in January 2003, and the Higher Education Act 2004, passed in July 2004. to make universities more accessible to students from all backgrounds, as well as more competitive in today's world economy, the White paper puts forward proposals in the following areas: research excellence, partnership between higher education institutions and business, delivering excellence in teaching and learning, expanding higher education to meet the needs of students and the economy, fair access, and freedom and funding. Most of these proposals have been included in the Higher Education Act which allows universities to charge variable tuition fees of between ￡0 and ￡3,000, and increases the earnings threshold at which graduates start to repay their tuition fees and maintenance loan to ￡15,000. The act also creates the Office for Fair Access, which ensures that the introduction of top-up fees does not lead to the exclusion of students from under-represented groups; the Office of the Independent Adjudicator, which reviews student complaints; and the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Alongside the act, the government also announced a new maintenance grant of up to ￡2,700 a year, an increased maintenance loan, a commitment to write off any outstanding student loan debt after 25 years, and the establishment of an independent Commission that will examine the impact of variable fees after three years of operation. Higher education funding councils since their inception in 1992 have played a key role in reforming higher education. Their strategic plan and relationship with government are introduced. The article also chooses to examine the progress of several UK higher education reform initiatives, including widening participation and fair access, improving the research assessment system, setting up the Higher Education Academy and Centres of Excellence in Teaching and Learning, encouraging fundraising and voluntary donations, and promoting two-year degree courses. Finally, aspects of the recent British higher education reforms that could be beneficial to the Taiwanese system are presented.