universal aim rather than the reserve of the very academic. Regulation, though providing a safeguard against incompetent practice, has made it less easy for small innovative colleges to survive, and a number of those early members have disappeared (Kirby Lodge, Greylands College for instance). Over the past 25 years new colleges have started and old ones have diversified. Some such as Concord and Padworth have become mainstream schools, and others have specialised (for instance St Clare's which now teaches IB courses, and Basil Paterson which is now an EFL college). Bales and Cambridge Tutors are still CIFE members. Stafford House is now known as CATS Canterbury and now teaches IB as well as A level and has won awards from the TES and Independent Schools Association (see ISA and TES websites). The ‘finishing school’ has gone, and ‘cramming’ evolved into a ‘liberal’ small group teaching format with an emphasis on individual attention and exam technique which has proved both attractive and successful not just within CIFE colleges but in a much wider range of schools: sixth-form teaching in most independent schools is now much closer to the CIFE-college model than was the case in the 1970s and '80s. Crammers became tutorial colleges and now ‘independent sixth-form colleges’. CIFE colleges have also been pathfinders in opening up overseas markets with courses tailored towards university entrance. The recruitment of pre-university students from Malaysia, Vietnam and China was pioneered by CIFE colleges. Current nature of CIFE colleges Some colleges now cater primarily for students from abroad while others deal mainly with British citizens. Some have several hundred students, some fewer than 50. Some are primarily residential while others deal mostly with ‘day’ students. Some remain colleges which primarily prepare for exams but others provide a more complete environment for development. All teach in small groups with an emphasis on adapting to the individual rather than requiring conformity to a school ethos. Distinctive nature of independent sixth-form colleges Although mainstream independent schools have become more flexible and student-centred over the years, independent sixth-form colleges retain a range of distinctive qualities: Because most of their students are 16+, their staff have special expertise in sixth-form teaching and exam preparation They generally offer a wide range of subjects – over 30 A levels is very common, and they offer timetables with few (if any) restrictions on subject combinations Most offer specialist courses in addition to A-levels