some of it was used to subsidise the dismantling of the declining heavy industies, the decline was not unique to the UK - the European Coal and Steel Community (genesis of the present EU) was set up partly to address the effects of the decline.
My point was more that it was an enormous strategic mistake that the revenue was not invested in education and training but then the UK has a unique attitute to education and training
don't know what you've been reading (?) but it's complete nonsense. it wasn't a dismantling as such, it was a sell off of badly inefficient publicly owned companies. well the parts that anyone would buy at least, and those companies went from being a drain on the taxpayer to being net contributors within a few years of privatisation.
how much do you think north sea oil receipts are? over the years NSO revenue has averaged approx £6 billion ave per year, whereas the public spend on education is £80 billion +.
what is it you think is so "unique" about uk education?
it seems to fare ok in most of the world ranking tables compiled by various organisations i've seen ( better than the US in most) and many private international schools around the world base their system on the UK curriculum.
