The chapter presents six scenarios constructed through
the OECD/CERI programme on “Schooling for Tomorrow”.
Their purpose is to sharpen understanding of how schooling
might develop in the years to come and the potential role of
policy to help shape these futures.

This paper presents scenarios for tertiary education twenty years or so from now. On the
basis of these stories about the broad tertiary sector, the paper closes with some
speculation on the possible role(s) of these institutions in the long-run future. The
scenarios are not predictions, nor forecasts of what is likely to happen. Rather they are
stories that evoke a range of possible futures. Exploring a multiplicity of possible futures
opens up a bigger canvas for imagining what kind of future we want and which strategic

The worlds and scenarios presented here are stories of possible futures, between twenty
and thirty years from 2009, based on the research carried out for the Beyond Current
Horizons programme. They describe possible social and technological changes that might
take place, and what these changes might mean for education. Each of the three worlds
describes a different possible future, with its own particular goals, challenges and
opportunities for educators. Within each world, two scenarios describe different ways in

This paper presents four scenarios for higher education systems developed by the OECD