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pport Centres (ASC) staffed by associate staff (with the exception of my role). It is envisaged that by devoting time to a literature based assignment I will be better able to introduce systems and good practice that will enable the ASC to meet its targets and improve the service we give to young people at this crucial stage in their lives. Literature Review and Analysis: The National Context: The 1992 Further and Higher Education Act has transformed the operational environment for all providers of training and education to 16-19 year olds in England and Wales. The Act created a new marketplace in which schools and colleges now compete for students (Foskett and Hesketh, 1997, p299). As a consequence of the Act, institutions need the students as their funds and survival is contingent upon successful recruitment and retention (Maguire et al, 1999, p292). The basic premise was that increased competition between providers and choice for students would lead to positive benefits such as higher standards, improved efficiency and promote equality of opportunity. By enhancing the market culture, it was hoped by policy-makers that it would encourage greater competition between institutions which would in turn force them to be responsive to the demands of the post-16 market (Helmsley-Brown, 1996, p49). However, the education market differs from the classic economic definition of a free market with the term ‘quasi-market’ often being used to describe the current situation. Walford (1996, p8) describes a quasi-market as one which differs in some fundamental aspects from the classic model both in the supply and demand side. For example, on the supply side institutions providing schooling are not necessarily privately owned or have profit maximisation as their key objective and on the demand side, money need not be exchanged for the service on offer. Expansion of the post-compulsory market has been proceeding apace since the early nineties with post-16 participation rates increasing (76 per cent at the end of 2005, (DFES, 2006, online)), although this is due in part to the contraction of the school leaver labour market (Foskett and Hesketh, 1997, p300). There are criticisms of this market structure being utilised in education from social conflict theorists who argue that they result in a polarised school market and exacerbate social and educational inequalities (Lauder et al, 1999, p43). Despite such concerns current government policy is continuing the process of increasing choice with regard to education. The Local Context: The Meadowbank College is a popular, oversubscribed 14-19 comprehensive situated just outside Leicester. The school performs well in GCSE league tables making it one of the best performing state schools in the county. The college has approximately a thousand students at key stage 4 and a has one of the largest school sixth forms (key stage 5) in the country with typically close to a thousand year 12 and 13 students on role (see Appendix 1). Meadowbank is a multicultural college with about 50 per cent of the student population coming from ethnic minorities (predominantly Asian backgrounds), reflecting the social make-up of the area. However, the post-16 market in which the college competes is fiercely competitive as there are several similar 14-19 colleges located nearby as well as a local FE college. Leicester city itself is home to three sixth form colleges as well as a very large Further Education college and