A major goal of the School for Independent Study at North East London Polytechnic, which was founded in 1974, has been to provide the opportunity for higher education among students in an underprivileged area of London where typically few students have access to further schooling. The desire to increase access led to "non-standard entry" criteria devised to use the students' experience instead of examination scores. The school has grown from one program of 73 full-time students in 1974 to three programs of 800 full-time and part-time students, and its activities now span the globe. Emphasis is on goal orientation and the development of transferable cognitive and interpersonal skills rather than on the content of any discipline. To this end, projects are carried out in the community. The history of the school is reviewed, followed by a statement of its philosophy. Procedures for admissions, academic program planning, registration, assessment of students' work, and networking (both with other faculty in the Polytechnic and with experts in the students' fields of interest) are described. Examples of students' work from the three degree programs (Diploma of Higher Education, Bachelor of Arts and of Science, and Masters of Arts and of Science) and profiles of selected students are provided. Procedures are outlined for staff and resource allocation. Descriptions of international links with such countries as Japan, Australia, China, Cyprus, Scotland, and Pakistan conclude the report. (9 references) (GL)