First published in 1972, this book explores the nature of the British education service up until the early 1970s, looking at its complex administration and financial and legislative constraints. Derek Birley, an experienced educational administrator himself, explores radical methods of approach to the planning of the education service. Moreover, he considers such basic problems as the difficulties of planning in our sort of society and the relevance of business methods to educational planning. He proposes and outlines new techniques of programming, budgeting, and policy-making which would be suited to the complicated structure of the educational system. Birley's study and the ideas he puts forward will be of interest to people at all levels of the education service.